The poster contains a drawing of a pregnant woman and a legend: “Syphilis can be fatal for your baby.”
That image was on the street that connects with Hollywood Boulevard, or Walk of Fame, just two minutes walk from the Dolby Theater where the Oscars were awarded.
In this environment dominated by the elite of the film industry, of special effects and cutting-edge technology, where screenwriters and actors go on strike to protest the possible suppression of their occupations for the benefit of artificial intelligence, in this context of modernity a threatening threat emerges. past that seemed overcome. Or at least vaccinated.
A recent report from the Centers for Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US administration warned that, unlike other sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, which are decreasing or increasing only slightly, syphilis has increased by 80%. % in the four years from 2018 to 2020.
Dr. Stacyey Rizza, from the Mayo Clinic, specified that this disease is transmitted through sexual contact, but stressed that a pregnant woman can transmit it to the baby. If the mother has syphilis, whether she knows it or not, while she is pregnant, and she has not been diagnosed and treated, it is very likely that she will infect the fetus, who will be born with that disease. This is what is called congenital syphilis, which, according to CDC data, increased by 183% in that same four-year period.
From the health sector it was indicated that the treatment is easy, theoretically, thanks to the fact that there is an injectable drug that cures the woman and protects the fetuses. Requires a three-dose prescription. But, despite the warnings and the urgency not to delay treatment. The administration itself is not doing enough to provide the drug, of which there is a great shortage.
If the data was negative, the matter has gotten even worse.
According to a journalistic investigation by ProPublica, a few months ago Pfizer, the only manufacturer in the United States of this drug, notified the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) of an “imminent shortage” before the end of 2023.
The pharmaceutical company blamed this shortage precisely on the lack of doses due to an increase in syphilis infection rates.
Throughout the United States, doctors, health personnel and public health experts report that the shortage of this painkiller is preventing them from stopping the increase in syphilis cases and the federal government is underestimating the importance of this crisis.
Both state and local authorities, which by law must be responsible for controlling the spread of contagious diseases, highlighted the continuous delays in obtaining this medication for pregnant women suffering from this disease.
Analysts stated that this emergency was predictable. There have been shortages in eight of the last 20 years, although it is now much more serious than it has been.
Specialists indicated that the effects of syphilis can be devastating if not treated during pregnancy. About 40% of babies born to women who have not been treated for this disease are stillborn or die shortly after delivery, according to CDC data.
And the children who survive are exposed to bone deformations, unbearable pain or brain damage, while there are others with problems hearing, seeing or even breathing. For the organizations that work in this field, and given that it is more than preventable for a child to be born with this disease, "it is a shameful sign of a failed public health system."
In 2022, the latest figures available, the CDC counted that more than 3,700 babies were infected, of which at least 300 died. The parents were diagnosed in more than 50% of the cases but never received treatment.
