A congenital syphilitic child to an adequately treated syphilitic mother

A mentally ill antenatal mother of 34 weeks gestation was diagnosed as a case of latent syphilis of unknown duration and was treated adequately with benzathine penicillin. One month after last dose of penicillin she delivered a male baby without any clinical or radiological evidence of syphilis, but reactive RPR in 1:64 dilution. Baby was treated as per CDC guidelines. It is also the gestational age at which the mother was treated decides the outcome in child in addition to stage of syphilis. These reported congenital syphilis cases necessitates early screening and adequate treatment of syphilis mainly in pregnancy.