Syphilis outbreak response

A Northern Territory (NT) syphilis outbreak was declared in 2013. Some of the major concerns of the syphilis outbreak is the long-term impact of syphilis infection and the risk of congenital syphilis to unborn babies. Congenital syphilis occurs when an unborn baby acquires the syphilis infection before birth.

Surveillance data, clinical information and syphilis health alerts available on the Centre for Disease Control page.

Clinical education, resources for health professionals and health promotion tools are available on the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses page.

Syphilis register

The operators of the syphilis register:

• assess all positive serology notified to the CDC
• identify cases in accordance with the public health case definitions
• provide support, education and information to clinicians
• follow-up with clinicians on cases and contacts for disease control purposes.

Contact the syphilis register by calling Darwin 08 8922 7818, Alice Springs 08 8951 7552 or email syphilis_register.ths@nt.gov.au.

For further clinical support, contact your local Regional Sexual Health Coordinator or after-hours support from the CDC on-call nurse.