A New Strategy to Prevent Congenital Syphilis in Los Angeles County

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Between 2012 and 2018, the number of cases of congenital syphilis in Los Angeles County (LAC) increased 800%, resulting in four infant deaths in two years. Despite rising syphilis rates in pregnant women and women of reproductive age, many health care providers are unaware of trends in syphilis in their community and uninformed about local Department of Public Health (DPH) clinical recommendations for congenital syphilis prevention. LAC DPH launched a Public Health Detailing (PHD) program, utilizing medical industry representative sales techniques, to gain access to health care providers for a brief, intensive encounter and tutorial to advance key public health messages about syphilis screening. In 2018, DPH visited 432 medical providers during an eight-week program. There was a notable increase in provider reported knowledge of recent LAC syphilis trends and screening guidelines at the follow-up visit; most significantly, provider reported use of syphilis screening for their patient population also increased. Of the obstetricians who completed follow-up, the reported use of third trimester screening increased from 23% at baseline to 71% at follow-up. While time-and resource intensive, this intervention has demonstrated efficacy in increasing provider knowledge and changing clinical practice to advance syphilis control.