Congenital syphilis hit a record in Alaska as treatment completion fell

Congenital syphilis, passed to an infant during pregnancy or birth, is preventable with a test and a penicillin shot. Alaska recorded 14 cases in 2025, the highest on record, up from six in 2024 and 10 in 2023.

A July state bulletin reported treatment completion among syphilis patients fell to 75%, from 84% in 2023. It also tells clinics short of Bicillin, the standard treatment, to buy imported Lentocilin instead.

Alaska Native infants accounted for 64% of cases, nine of 14. The July bulletin puts 10 cases in Anchorage and Mat-Su; Wednesday's report shows 10 in Anchorage, one in Mat-Su. Syphilis overall, infectious and non-infectious, totaled 497 statewide, 348 in Anchorage. The counts are provisional.

A January 2024 bulletin found all 2023 cases were "in infants born to women who experienced complex and substantial barriers to prenatal care."

The Department of Corrections offers opt-out syphilis testing, screening at intake unless a person declines, with 5,163 adults tested from October 2023 through September 2025. The state recommends testing pregnant women three times: at diagnosis, in the third trimester and at delivery.