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The article discusses a study which measured the coverage of services aimed at preventing mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission in four African countries. The cross-sectional surveillance study of mother-infant pairs used umbilical cord blood samples from selected facilities that provide delivery services in several countries, including Cameroon and South Africa. The authors found that only 51 percent of HIV-exposed infants received the minimal regimen of single-dose nevirapine.

In the context of a concerning increase in rates of syphilis and congenital syphilis in the United States, this Viewpoint discusses the importance of improving screening programs and diagnostics, and it argues for legislation, media coverage, and activism by patient advocacy groups and policy makers to remove the stigma of this resurgent sexually transmitted infection (STI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a summary of the analysis conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on recent trends in congenital syphilis (CS) rates in the U.S. The national surveillance data from the 2003-2008 period for CS cases reported to state and local health departments was used by the CDC in the analysis. The analysis discovered that CS rate among infants less than 1 year old increased by 23%, from 8.2 cases per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 10.1 during 2008. It also noted that most of the CS cases occurred in infants born to black mothers.