Canada has witnessed an alarming increase in pediatric cases of syphilis, with the speed rising faster than those recorded in the US and Europe.

Based on official data presented by Health Canada, the incidence of early congenital syphilis was only 7 in 2017. But this soared to 96 cases in 2021 — recording a 1,271% increase.

Early congenital syphilis is defined by the country’s health-centric federal department as a laboratory-confirmed Treponema pallidum infection occurring inside the first 2 years of birth.

T. pallidum is the bacteria liable for syphilis. The condition is sometimes called the “great imitator” because its signs and symptoms are mostly indistinguishable from other diseases, in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Common symptoms of syphilis include fever, headache, weight reduction, fatigue, skin rash on the palms and soles or other body parts and ulcers on the inoculation sites, including genitals, rectum, tongue and lips, per the general public health agency.

Based on preliminary government data, Canada is on course to experience one other increase in congenital cases. That is alarming since babies who contract the condition at birth are vulnerable to low birth weight, bone malformations and sensory problems, in line with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Public health researchers said people experiencing poverty, homelessness and drug use usually tend to get infected through unsafe sex. Those with inadequate access to the health system have the identical risk, and so they may pass the bacteria to their babies while pregnant and birth.

“In high-income countries, you see it in pockets of disadvantaged populations. It is a marker of inequality. It is a marker of low-quality prenatal care,” Teodora Elvira Wi, who works within the WHO’s HIV, Hepatitis and sexually transmitted infection program, told Reuters.

Syphilis is definitely preventable when one has access to penicillin while pregnant. In Canada’s case, most congenital syphilis cases were recorded amongst its Indigenous populations who experience discrimination and have poor access to health services.

“It’s just the entire system, and all of the things that we have done in bad ways to not support Indigenous communities,” said Sean Rourke, a scientist with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

To handle the difficulty, Health Canada has dispatched epidemiologists to assist Indigenous people in provinces contain the disease. The federal government can be working on expanding testing and treatment access to affected areas.

Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are on the rise, in line with the CDC.
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