Inadequate prenatal care is the No. 1 predictor for maternal and congenital syphilis. It is a disease whose reemergence signifies severely inadequate access to health and social services systems.
STD Investigator Hou Vang works in his office as Jena Adams , Communicable Disease Program manager, checks in on him on June 8, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight LocalThe number of congenital syphilis cases has ballooned to rates not seen in two decades. Public health workers say the increase coincides with a decline in funding for public health and a drop in the rate of women accessing prenatal care.
“I mean, you hear things,” she says, distractedly eyeing a family member’s car pulling into the driveway. The woman allowed CalMatters to report on her diagnosis on the condition of anonymity. “When they rank developed nations on health measures, the indicators always include sexually transmitted diseases. And we’re failing.”
“When they rank developed nations on health measures, the indicators always include sexually transmitted diseases,” said Dr. Mohammad Nael Mhaissen, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera. “And we’re failing.”Vang knows when he has found a meth den. The sharp, acrid scent of the drug is unmistakable — it smells like cat pee.
Medical historians call it “the great imitator” because the symptoms are commonplace and disappear after a few weeks even though the body still carries the bacteria. Women in particular may never notice the painless bumps of early infection until it comes back months or years later to wreak havoc on their internal organs.
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