Last June, Pfizer, the lone U.S. manufacturer of the injections, notified the Food and Drug Administration of an “impending stock out” that it anticipated would last a year. The company blamed “an increase in syphilis infection rates as well as competitive shortages.”

Across the country, physicians, clinic staff and public health experts say that the shortage is preventing them from reining in a surge of syphilis and that the federal government is downplaying the crisis. State and local public health authorities, which by law are responsible for controlling the spread of infectious diseases, report delays getting medicine to pregnant people with syphilis. This emergency was predictable: There have been shortages of this drug in eight of the last 20 years.

Yet federal health authorities have not prevented the drug shortages in the past and aren’t doing much to prevent them in the future.

Syphilis, which is typically spread during sex, can be devastating if it goes untreated in pregnancy: About 40% of babies born to women with untreated syphilis can be stillborn or die as newborns, according to the CDC. Infants that survive can suffer from deformed bones, excruciating pain or brain damage, and some struggle to hear, see or breathe. Since this is entirely preventable, a baby born with syphilis is a shameful sign of a failing public health system.

  • Wooster@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    8 months ago

    I question how much of this is a logistics issue, vs how much of this is because half the population is convinced that basic medical care causes Down syndrome .

    • cogman@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      Yes, I suspected that distrust in doctors and vaccines (re: needles) is a big part of the reason for the uptick. Bicillin is a butt shot rather than a pill and it requires several dosages over time to be effective. I’m sure the doctors office charges $100 for the wellness checkup on each visit. (and $100 for the $0.10 shot)

      That said, there have been shortages of the drug in general which is a huge problem.

      • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        8 months ago

        Commonly referred to as the “Peanut butter shot”. It’s the big one everyone gets in the military, so it ought to be in plentiful supply.

        • cogman@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          8 months ago

          Yup, I’m sure the military produces it themselves, especially with how cheap it is to manufacture.

          • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            8 months ago

            Would not be the first time the national guard has been mobilized to give shots, knew a couple guys who did that when the covid vaccine rolled out. But counterpoint to that; Florida.