Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Saturday, February 25th, 2023

Mississippi sees 900% rise in number of infants born with congenital syphilis

Author:     Maya Yang
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Sun 12 Feb 2023 | 13.17 EST
 Link: Mississippi sees 900% rise in number of infants born with congenital syphilis
Stephan:  

Last week I dedicated an entire issue of SR to focus on Mississippi to demonstrate what I meant by a failed state so my readers would understand what I was talking about when I mentioned the Great Schism Trend. Well, as it turns out Mississippi is even more of a third-world country than I thought. The Republican-controlled state spends so little on pre-natal care for its citizens that they are experiencing a 900% increase in infant syphilis, as this article describes. It isn't that Mississippi is so poor it can't help, it's that the overwhelmingly White Republican politicians who control the state just don't give a damn about the wellbeing of poor people Black or White. All they care about is protecting rich Whites and the businesses they control. I cannot tell you how vile and disgusting I find this dereliction of duty and morality.

A baby with Congenital pemphigus syphiliticus. Credit: BMJ

Mississippi has registered an alarming rise in the number of infants being treated for congenital syphilis.

According to hospital billing data shared with NBC, the number of babies who have been treated for the sexually transmitted disease has increased by more than 900% over five years.

Medical professionals attribute the increasing cases of disease to inadequate prenatal healthcare and understaffed workforce.

Ten newborns that were born in the poorest American state in 2016 received treatment for the disease. In 2021, 102 newborns were treated for the disease, including at least one who died, according to the Mississippi state health department, NBC reported.

Syphilis is a contagious disease that is mostly spread through sex, but babies can also contract the illness from infected mothers. The disease produces an ulcer in the area where it entered the body, which usually appears between 10 and 60 days after infection.

Congenital syphilis can cause a variety of issues in infants, including disfigured bones, severe anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, brain and nerve problems such as blindness and deafness, meningitis […]

Read the Full Article

1 Comment

  1. sam crespi on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 8:06 am

    Mississippi has been a troubled spot for years. One of the darkest places in America in numerous ways. I haven’t specifically gone into why. But this story confirms what I’ve seen and read about for years. It breaks my heart! Especially, as a mother and a woman who loves and values children. It’s amazing how a specific place can become so stuck. So blind to what is happening. I am horrified.