Wisconsin has reported a 1,450 percent increase in congenital syphilis cases since 2019.
The state announced the figures just over two weeks since the country’s leading STD lab was shuttered as part of President Trump’s cuts.
Congenital syphilis occurs when a baby is born with syphilis, which is an STI passed to a baby during pregnancy. It can cause severe health problems, including stillbirth, premature birth, and birth defects such as deafness and cataracts in the infant.
In 2024, there were 31 cases of congenital syphilis in Wisconsin, compared to just two in 2019.
Meanwhile, rates of other STIs were shown to be high across the state, with 31,576 reports of infections such syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia in 2024. Of these, over half were reported in people 15 to 24 years old.
‘While we can celebrate that overall levels are decreasing, STIs continue to impact Wisconsin residents across the state, and the increase of congenital syphilis is especially concerning,’ said state health officer Paula Tran.
‘Fortunately, STIs are preventable. This requires us all to ensure that people have access to accurate, age-appropriate education about sexual health alongside quality health services that support timely testing and treatment.’
The news comes just as two national laboratories that did testing for rare forms of hepatitis and drug-resistant sexually transmitted diseases were forced to close following government cuts.
Wisconsin has reported a 1,450 percent increase in congenital syphilis cases just over two weeks since the country’s government STD lab was shuttered as part of President Trump’s cuts
The STD prevention lab, which was active for almost four decades, was the national lead for testing and tracing outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, such as one that occurred in a 2023 outbreak in Massachusetts.
The lab also conducted testing for new drug-resistant strains of STDs and developed national testing guidelines for diseases including chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.
Meanwhile, it was considered the world’s leading viral hepatitis lab, according to the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), and set lab testing standards for all US labs.
Scott Becker, APHL’s CEO, said that the lab was involved in testing samples from a current outbreak of viral hepatitis in Florida, and lab samples taken from patients were in transit when the lab was shuttered at the beginning of the month.
The APHL sent a letter asking the US Department of Health and Human Services to restore the two national STD labs.
Meanwhile, the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association (ASTDA) echoed similar sentiments, stating that the ‘abrupt and unexplained cuts in the absence of a clear plan to address the resulting gaps will have significant negative consequences for the American people’.
The organization added: ‘The STD laboratory conducted essential work including the development of novel STI diagnostic tools and provision of technical support for state and local public health laboratories.
‘The elimination of the laboratory is an enormous loss that will impact STI public health practice and research for years to come.’
The STD labs were part of the mass cuts at the CDC. With a $9.2 billion core budget, the CDC is charged with protecting Americans from outbreaks and other public health threats
The Disease Intervention and Response Branch of the lab included more than 40 field assignees, ASTDA said ‘who strengthened the capacity of local and state health departments to conduct STI/HIV disease intervention services’.
The STD labs were part of the mass cuts at the CDC.
With a $9.2 billion core budget, the CDC is charged with protecting Americans from outbreaks and other public health threats.
Before the job cuts, the agency had about 13,000 employees.
They included more than 1,700 scientists working at laboratories – the people who determine or confirm what germ or other threat is behind a rash of unexplained illnesses.
‘These two [STD] labs are effectively closed. The services they do are no longer available to our nation,’ said Becker.
HHS did not respond directly to a question about the decision to close the labs issued by Reuters but said broadly that HHS was restructuring and would keep critical programs in a new operation structure.
The official did not say whether the two public health labs were considered critical.
Airing their frustrations at the cuts, officials from ASTDA concluded: ‘The loss of capacity for disease intervention and response services comes at a particularly dangerous time for our field, as the congenital syphilis epidemic continues to grow.
‘ASTDA strongly recommends continued support for and investment in STI prevention and research.
‘The essential services provided by the STI Laboratory Reference and Research Branch and the Disease Intervention and Response Branch at CDC should be bolstered, not eliminated.
‘The loss of these groups will have lasting consequences for our communities and patients and the services that we can provide.’
The advocacy group is urging US citizens to contact their legislators, and ‘advocate for the restoration of essential STI services at CDC and ongoing federal investment in STI research and public health practice’.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .