Recently, there has been concern over a 2-year-old toddler in Zhejiang who has been infected with syphilis.
On May 18th, the topic of “2-year-old toddler in Zhejiang infected with syphilis” trended on social media platforms in mainland China. According to reports from “Chao News,” a 2-year-old toddler named Hao Hao (pseudonym) in Zhejiang tested positive for syphilis.
It was reported that in March of this year, Hao Hao’s mother took him for a minor surgery. Blood tests were required before the surgery, and the results showed that Hao Hao was infected with syphilis.
The child’s illness caused a major uproar in the family. Both of Hao Hao’s parents tested negative for syphilis after being checked. The parents took the child to a dermatology clinic where the doctor requested further testing, and the results remained the same: syphilis positive.
Why does a 2-year-old child have syphilis, and where is the source of infection?
The report indicated that Hao Hao’s mother thought about the grandparents who also helped take care of the child at home and strongly insisted on them getting tested. The results showed that the grandfather tested negative for syphilis, while the grandmother tested positive. Hao Hao’s mother disclosed that the grandmother liked to chew food and feed it to the child, and wondered if this habit had any connection to Hao Hao’s illness.
Dr. Yuan Chengda, Deputy Director of the Dermatology Department at the Wulin Campus of Hangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, explained that the only source of syphilis infection is a syphilis patient. Syphilis spirochetes can be detected in the patient’s ulcer exudate, blood, semen, saliva, and more. Syphilis is mainly transmitted through sexual contact, mother-to-child transmission, and blood transmission.
Dr. Yuan believed that if the grandmother had a habit of chewing food before feeding the child, it could lead to indirect transmission. For example, during the chewing process, if there is bleeding gums, saliva contaminating the food, the child could be infected with syphilis spirochetes and thus contract syphilis.
Netizens commented: “Terrifying news, the baby’s life has just begun, and it’s already ruined.” “Feeding chewed food to others is really unacceptable.” “Syphilis is a lifelong label, even if you recover, testing positive will be a lifelong issue. Poor child.”