Houston Doctors Launch 'Cutting-Edge' Testing Program to Fight Congenital Syphilis Epidemic

Houston doctors have implemented a new testing program that, if widely adopted, could help address the nationwide epidemic of babies born with syphilis.

“We’re on the cutting edge,” said Dr. Irene Stafford, a maternal-fetal specialist and associate professor at UTHealth Houston’s McGovern Medical School.

Stafford was referring to Memorial Hermann and UTHealth Houston’s Preg-Out program, which provides rapid testing for all pregnant patients admitted to the emergency department at the hospital’s medical center campus. This is important, Stafford said, because traditional testing can be cumbersome and take up to 24 hours. By that point, many patients have already left the hospital.