Congratulations Amanda! New Publication in Canadian Medical Association Journal

We are pleased to announce that our article examining prenatal syphilis screening patterns in Ontario has been published 🎉

Congenital syphilis is entirely preventable with timely prenatal screening and treatment, yet rates continue to rise across Canada. In this population-based study, we analyzed over 550,000 pregnancies in Ontario between 2018 and 2023 to evaluate the timing and uptake of prenatal syphilis screening. Our study aimed to identify gaps in screening practices and determine whether disparities existed across different populations.

We found that nearly 1 in 5 pregnancies did not receive timely syphilis screening during the first trimester, despite clinical recommendations supporting early prenatal testing. In addition, approximately 8% of pregnant individuals were not screened at all during pregnancy. Delayed screening was disproportionately more common among equity-deserving populations, highlighting persistent inequities in access to prenatal care and preventative health services.

These findings underscore the urgent need to strengthen equitable prenatal screening strategies and improve access to timely testing, particularly as congenital syphilis rates continue to increase. Public health interventions focused on reducing barriers to prenatal care and ensuring adherence to screening guidelines are essential to preventing avoidable congenital syphilis cases and improving maternal and infant health outcomes.

A huge congratulations to lead author Amanda Featherstone, co-authors Hannah Willms, Maria Beatriz Ospina, Maria P. Velez, Megan A. Carter, Zoë Greenwald, Melissa Richard-Greenblatt, Sophie Yee, and Jennifer Flemming, as well as the teams at ICES and Queen’s University for this important collaboration. We also gratefully acknowledge the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for funding this work.