Congenital syphilis screening cuts baby deaths

Hundreds of thousands of babies’ lives could be saved each year if pregnant women were screened for syphilis, researchers say.

Syphilis causes 500,000 stillbirths and newborn deaths globally, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

A study of 41,000 women, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, showed that testing and antibiotics could more than halve the number of deaths.

UK experts said screening was cheap and cost-effective — via redwolf.newsvine.com