Maternal and congenital syphilis in Shanghai, China, 2002 to 2006
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the trends and determinants of maternal and congenital syphilis in Shanghai, China. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of maternal and congenital syphilis from 2002 to 2006 in Shanghai, China. We presented the trends of maternal syphilis and congenital syphilis rates and compared outcomes in infants born to mothers with complete versus incomplete treatment for maternal syphilis. We also assessed the determinants of compliance to treatment of maternal syphilis and examined the associations of initial maternal RPR antibody level and gestational age at initiation of treatment with occurrence of congenital syphilis. RESULTS: A total of 535 537 pregnant women were included in the analysis. During this period of time, 1471 maternal syphilis cases (298.7 per 100 000 live births) and 334 congenital syphilis cases (62.4 per 100 000 live births) were identified. Both maternal and congenital syphilis rates increased from 2002 until 2005, with a slight decrease in 2006. The rate of maternal syphilis was 156.2 per 100 000 live births in Shanghai residents and 371.7 per 100 000 live births in the migrating population (p<0.001). The compliance to treatment for maternal syphilis was poorer in women with a lower level of education. The rate of congenital syphilis in infants born to mothers with incomplete treatment (50.8%) was much higher than in infants born to mothers with complete treatment (12.5%). Rates of fetal death, neonatal death, and major birth defects were 30.4%, 11.0%, and 3.8%, respectively, in the incomplete treatment group; the corresponding figures were 5.5%, 0.56%, and 0.46%, respectively, in the complete treatment group. Infant outcome was also affected by initial maternal RPR antibody level and time of treatment, with much better outcomes in mothers with low antibody levels and earlier treatment. CONCLUSION: There has been a resurgence of congenital syphilis in Shanghai, China, especially in the migrating population and other populations with a lower socioeconomic status.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Seven studies assessed the use of penicillin in 5,155 foetuses exposed to gestational syphilis during the third trimester.
“Seven studies 12,27,28,31,32,34,35 assessed the use of penicillin in 5,155 foetuses exposed to gestational syphilis during the third trimester.”
From Efectividad del tratamiento de la sífilis gestacional en el último trimestre sobre la incidencia de sífilis congénita: revisión sistemática y metanálisis (2025) · cites this paper as [35]
The Materials and methods describe penicillin treatment for pregnant women with syphilis, and the Results examine congenital syphilis by gestational age when treatment began. The cited study therefore fits the penicillin-treatment topic, but the available passages do not establish a third-trimester-only group. Its Results report 1,471 maternal syphilis cases; the claimed total of 5,155 foetuses across seven studies cannot be verified from this source alone. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTwo studies assessed benzathine penicillin G in 159 foetuses treated within the last four weeks of gestation, with congenital syphilis incidence ranging from 6.5% to 23.4%.
“Two studies 12,31,35 assessed benzathine penicillin G in 159 foetuses treated within the last four weeks of gestation, with congenital syphilis incidence ranging from 6.5% to 23.4%.”
From Efectividad del tratamiento de la sífilis gestacional en el último trimestre sobre la incidencia de sífilis congénita: revisión sistemática y metanálisis (2025) · cites this paper as [35]
The Materials and methods section says the study used benzathine penicillin G, and the Results say congenital syphilis was less likely when treatment began earlier. Our copy does not substantiate the claimed group of 159 foetuses treated in the last four weeks of gestation or the 6.5%–23.4% incidence range (searched those numbers and late-gestation treatment). (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCertain evidence indicates that additional therapy is beneficial for pregnant women to prevent congenital syphilis; for women who have primary, secondary, or early latent syphilis, a second dose of benzathine penicillin G 2.4 million units IM can be administered 1 week after the initial dose.
“Certain evidence indicates that additional therapy is beneficial for pregnant women to prevent congenital syphilis. For women who have primary, secondary, or early latent syphilis, a second dose of benzathine penicillin G 2.4 million units IM can be administered 1 week after the initial dose (641–643).”
From Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021 (2021) · cites this paper as [642]
Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 14 · Cited by 62
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [6]6. Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau. Shanghai statistical yearbook 2007. Beijing: China Statistics Press; 2008.
- [9]9. Cao Z, Gou W. Modern perinatology. Beijing: People's Health Publishing Co.; 1999. pp. 376-378.
- [16]16. Wang L, Zhu L, Qian S, Chen R, Wang Z. Field survey of syphilis in pregnancy in Shanghai. Chin Perinatol J 2001;4:205-8.
- Authors
- Zhu, L., Qin, M., Du, L., Xie, R.-H., Wong, T., & Wen, S. W.
- Affiliations
- Tongji University (CN)
- Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital (CN)
- Central South University (CN)
- Public Health Agency of Canada (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Wen, Shi Wu
- Venue
- International Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-09
- Volume
- 14
- Pages
- e45-e48
- ISSN
- 1201-9712 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2074214961
- Semantic Scholar
- 6ca7eb3e37cb30f4ebcee5c1bf5e6accc24321ab
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 3.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Ottawa
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Institute of Gender and Health
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Syphilis Diagnosis and Treatment
- Social Sciences › General Social Sciences › HIV, TB, and STIs Epidemiology
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Reproductive tract infections research
- Keywords
- maternal syphilis, congenital syphilis, syphilis resurgence, medication adherence, gestational age at treatment, fetal death, neonatal death, major birth defects, migrants, socioeconomic status, Shanghai
- MeSH terms
- Congenital Abnormalities, Adult, Anti-Bacterial Agents, China, Female, Fetal Death, Humans, Infant Mortality, Infant, Newborn, Mass Screening, Patient Compliance, Penicillin G Benzathine, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Infectious, Pregnancy Outcome, Prospective Studies, Syphilis, Syphilis, Congenital, Time Factors, Cohort Studies, Treatment Outcome
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
