(Pierre, SD) — South Dakota is battling a serious threat when it comes to syphilis. Nationwide, cases are on the rise and rates are up across all ages. But South Dakota is now near the top in cases per capita for two specific areas that pose a danger to newborns and infants. Those are primary and secondary cases in women of childbearing age, and then congenital syphilis cases which deals with infants. Dr. Ashley Sands, who specializes in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Sanford Health, says Native Americans are seeing the largest increase in congenital syphilis. affecting one in 42 of the American Indian population. That’s compared to one in 275 births across the state of all races. Local health experts are spreading awareness of the growing health concern while letting people to know that syphilis is easy to treat in adults to cut down the risk for infants.
