What is this article about?

This article is about the trends in congenital syphilis clinical notifications submitted by healthcare providers and positive rapid plasma reagin (RPR) results among infants and children below two years of age in South Africa between 2023 and 2024.

Why does this matter?

Congenital syphilis is a life-threatening public health condition that is preventable. The public needs to be made aware of it and ways to prevent it. Healthcare workers also need to understand the congenital syphilis management and notification process to detect it early and prevent infant morbidity and mortality.

How did this article come about?

The article started as a standard congenital syphilis annual report for 2024. However, after comparing the findings to the previous year and noting a consistent pattern of clinical notifications reported from the same districts; we then decided to do a comparison of the burden between the two years taking into account the disruptions in testing and notifications that took place in 2023 during the third quarter when the National Health Laboratory Service experienced the cyber-attack and; the roll-out of the national guidelines for the prevention of vertical transmission of communicable infections.

What was your role in the development of this article?

My role in the development of this article included designing the report, data cleaning, analysis, and write-up.

Why should people read this article?

People need to know the impact of congenital syphilis and ways to prevent it. That way, they will be able to contribute to the country’s goal to eliminate congenital syphilis by 2030. Healthcare providers will be able to better understand the surveillance of congenital syphilis and the significance of early screening and timely reporting of clinical notifications for early prevention.

What impact do you hope this article will have on public health policy and healthcare access?

I hope that this article will contribute to the knowledge of congenital syphilis and its management by healthcare workers managing patients at the facility level. At the community level, the acquired knowledge will encourage early antenatal booking, syphilis screening and treatment, and improve partner treatment. This article may also help inform policy and guide the allocation of resources required to improve public health surveillance of congenital syphilis, and better uptake of the recent management guidelines in South Africa.

Ms Ephordia Thabane is an Epidemiologist at the Centre for HIV and STI at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

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