news Texas Launches Congenital Syphilis Provider Hotline

Author: Diana Forester
Director of Health Policy – Texans Care for Children
Steering Committee Member- Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition

From Budget Request to Implementation: Texas Launches Congenital Syphilis Provider Hotline

For years, Texans Care for Children has raised the alarm about the rapid rise of congenital syphilis in Texas — a preventable and treatable condition that can cause lifelong health complications or death for infants when it goes undiagnosed during pregnancy. After multiple budget cycles of advocacy, testimony, and collaboration with state leaders, Texas is beginning to implement one of the key strategies designed to address this growing crisis: a congenital syphilis provider hotline.

This milestone represents meaningful progress in the state’s response to a serious and preventable public health challenge.

A Preventable Crisis That Has Been Getting Worse

Congenital syphilis occurs when a pregnant woman with untreated syphilis passes the infection to her baby during pregnancy or delivery. With early screening and treatment using penicillin, transmission is highly preventable.

Yet cases in Texas have risen dramatically over the past decade. In 2022 alone, Texas reported more than 900 cases of congenital syphilis — up from just 73 cases in 2013. Texas accounted for roughly one-quarter of all congenital syphilis cases in the United States that year.

These infections can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, birth defects, and severe developmental complications. Some infants appear healthy at birth but later develop serious medical conditions affecting their bones, brain, blood, or nervous system.

Simply put, babies in Texas should not be suffering from a disease we know how to prevent.

Years of Budget Advocacy

Addressing congenital syphilis has been a consistent priority in our maternal and child health budget work.

Across multiple legislative hearings, agency budget reviews, and written recommendations, we urged lawmakers to fund the Department of State Health Services’ request to strengthen the state’s response. DSHS identified several practical, provider-focused strategies to help detect and treat syphilis earlier in pregnancy, including:

• A provider consultation hotline
• Rapid-response nurse teams
• Provider education and toolkits
• Public awareness resources

These investments were designed to help health professionals diagnose and treat syphilis in pregnancy quickly and accurately — a critical step in preventing infant infections.

After several years of advocacy, the Legislature approved funding to support these efforts.

A Key Piece Is Now in Place

One of the most important components of that investment — the congenital syphilis provider hotline — is now live.

The hotline gives clinicians and health plans access to expert guidance on screening, diagnosis, treatment protocols, and care coordination for pregnant patients and infants affected by syphilis. By providing real-time clinical support, the hotline helps providers act quickly when time-sensitive treatment decisions matter most.

This kind of infrastructure support is especially important for providers in rural or under-resourced communities, where access to infectious disease or maternal health specialists may be limited.

What Happens Next

Launching the hotline is an important step, but implementation will determine its impact. The state must ensure providers across Texas know this resource exists and understand how to use it. Continued coordination between DSHS, Medicaid managed care plans, hospitals, and prenatal providers will be essential.

Texas still faces significant challenges in reversing the rise in congenital syphilis. But tools like the provider hotline, rapid-response clinical support, and provider education efforts can help the state move toward earlier diagnosis, faster treatment, and healthier outcomes for babies.

We appreciate the Legislature and DSHS for recognizing the urgency of this issue and investing in solutions that support providers and protect families.

Preventing congenital syphilis is possible — and these steps bring Texas closer to that goal.