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Volume 32, Number 7—July 2026

Dispatch

Trends in Congenital Syphilis Cases by Maternal Country of Birth, Spain, 2016–2024

Victoria HernandoComments to Author , Carmen Montaño, Ana Fernandez, Laura Molina, Guillermo Perez, Luis Viloria, Raquel Morales, Henar Marcos, Evelin Lopez-Corbeto, Paula Silvestre, Santiago Vicente, Olaia Perez-Martinez, Laura Montero, M. Isabel Barranco-Boada, Jesus Castilla, Pello Latasa, Eva Martinez, Ninoska Lopez, Daniel Castrillejo, Ana Roldan, Asuncion Diaz, and STIs Group of National Epidemiological Surveillance Network1
Author affiliation: National Centre of Epidemiology, Carlos II Health Institute, Madrid, Spain (V. Hernando, A. Diaz); CIBER in Infectious Diseases (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (V. Hernando, A. Diaz); Dirección General de Salud Pública del Gobierno de Aragón, Servicio de Vigilancia en Salud Pública, Zaragoza, Spain (C. Montaño); Dirección General de Salud Pública y Atención a la Salud Mental, Servicio Vigilancia Epidemiológica, Oviedo, Spain (A. Fernandez); Dirección General de Salud Pública, Servicio de Epidemiología, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (L. Molina); Dirección General de Salud Pública, Servicio Canario de Salud, Servicio de Vigilancia y Prevención, Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, Spain (G. Perez); Dirección General de Salud Pública Servicio de Vigilancia Epidemiologica, Santander, Spain (L. Viloria); Dirección General Salud Pública, Toledo, Spain (R. Morales); Dirección General Salud Pública, Valladolid, Spain (H. Marcos); Centro de Estudios Epidemiológicos sobre las ITS y Sida de Cataluña, Badalona, Spain (E. Lopez-Corbeto); Dirección General de Salud Pública, Servicio de Vigilancia y Control Epidemiológico, Valencia, Spain (P. Silvestre); Servicio Extremeño de Salud, Dirección General de Salud Pública, Mérida, Spain (S. Vicente); Dirección Xeral de Saúde Pública, Servizo de Vixilancia Epidemiolóxica, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (O. Perez-Martinez); Dirección General Salud Publica, Subdirección General de Vigilancia en Salud Pública Programas de Vigilancia de Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual, Madrid (L. Montero); Consejeria de Salud, Murcia, Spain (M.I. Barranco-Boada); Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra-IdiSNA, CIBERESP, Pamplona, Spain (J. Castilla); Dirección General de Salud Pública, Servicio de Epidemiologia y Vacunación, San Sebastian, Spain (P. Latasa); Dirección General de Salud Pública, Consumo y Cuidados, Logroño, Spain (E. Martinez); Consejería de Sanidad, Servicio de Epidemiologia, Ceuta, Spain (N. Lopez); Dirección General de Salud Pública, Servicio de Vigilancia Epidemiológica, Melilla, Spain (D. Castrillejo); Consejería de Sanidad, Presidencia y Emergencias, Servicio de Vigilancia y Salud Laboral, Sevilla, Spain (A. Roldan)

Main Article

Table 2

Maternal characteristics in study of trends in congenital syphilis cases by maternal country of birth, Spain, 2016–2024*

Characteristic Value
 p value†
Mother born in Spain† Mother born outside Spain
Total no. women
 11 (28.9)
 27 (71.1)
Median age at delivery (IQR), y
 21.5 (19–33)
 25 (22–29)
 0.421
Syphilis screening during pregnancy 0.877
First trimester 3 (27.3) 8 (29.6)
Third trimester 0 2 (7.4)
First and third trimester 2 (18.2) 2 (7.4)
Not documented 2 (18.2) 4 (14.8)
Not performed 1 (9.1) 3 (11.1)
Unknown
 3 (27.3)
 8 (29.6)
Syphilis treatment 0.284
Without treatment 4 (36.4) 11 (40.7)
Appropriate treatment 4 (36.4) 6 (22.2)
Inappropriate treatment 0 4 (14.8)
During labor or delivery 3 (27.3) 2 (7.4)
Not documented 0 3 (11.1)
Unknown
 0
 1 (3.7)
Maternal risk for syphilis 0.318
Yes 6 (54.6) 8 (29.6)
None 1 (9.1) 6 (22.2)
Unknown
 4 (36.4)
 13 (48.2)
Risk factors, women with maternal risk for syphilis‡
Disadvantaged situation 2 (33.3) 8 (100) 0.006
Engagement in sex work 1 (16.7) 1 (12.5) 0.825
Drug use 3 (50.0) 1 (12.5) 0.124
Unspecified factors
 4 (66.7)
 1 (12.5)
 0.036
Maternal HIV coinfection 0.430
Yes 0 0
No 9 (81.8) 23 (85.2)
Not testing 0 2 (7.4)
Unknown 2 (18.2) 2 (7.4)

*Values are no. (%) except as indicated. †χ2 was used to calculate p values. ‡Risk factors are nonexclusive categories.

Main Article

1STIs Study Group team members are listed at the end of this article.

Page created: May 14, 2026
Page updated: June 23, 2026
Page reviewed: June 23, 2026
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