Review Article

A Road Map for the Global Elimination of Congenital Syphilis

Table 2

Estimated global burden of congenital syphilis cases.

Proportion of seropositive women with:Watson-Jones [8, 11]Schulz [12]WHO [13]

Untreated syphilis 95%*100%100%
High serologic titer ( 1 : 8)73%
Adverse pregnancy outcome due to syphilis**49%65%75%
Global Annual No. of Congenital Syphilis Cases692,1001,323,9001,527,600

Note that all assumptions based on WHO estimate of 2,036,753 pregnant women with syphilis [9].
*not included in the original Watson-Jones model; **includes late fetal loss, perinatal death, prematurity/low birth weight, neonatal infection.