Zink cosigned a letter outlining new guidelines for health care practitioners that promotes increased syphilis testing.
Zink said the state is recommending new guidelines for prevention. Previously, health care providers were testing at least once during pregnancy and then as needed based on risk profile. But now, the state recommends pregnant women be tested twice during pregnancy and once at birth. Zink said babies with congenital syphilis tend to be from mothers who didn’t have access to good prenatal care. Many of those mothers were experiencing homelessness and most reported using hard drugs like heroin, amphetamine, methamphetamine or cocaine in the year before they gave birth.
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