Responding to the Syphilis Crisis in Primary Care
Dr. Petra Smyczek
November 16, 2021
Primary Care / Family Medicine
Alberta Health Services declared a syphilis outbreak in the province in 2019, and the primary care networks identified this as a high priority topic for responding to the emergent needs of Albertans. Congenital syphilis is a severe and life threatening illness that occurs when the disease is transmitted to babies when the mother has a syphilis infection during pregnancy. In addition to causing birth defects, congenital syphilis has a high rate of fetal death, with approximately 40% of infected mothers having stillborn babies. Despite advances in health care and the fact that syphilis can be treated with antibiotics, the number of syphilis infections is skyrocketing across Alberta, reaching their highest levels in about 70 years. This outbreak is province-wide, affecting all genders and socioeconomic groups.
At the request of the Edmonton Southside PCN, we collaborated to develop a pan-PCN educational webinar and quality improvement workshop for family physicians and their teams in November 2021, led by Dr. Petra Smyczek. This webinar and facilitated quality improvement workshop presented information on syphilis, testing, and treatment. Participants then had an opportunity to work on improving processes within their clinic by working with quality improvement facilitators in breakout rooms, and the PCNs followed up with physicians six weeks later to review their QI cycle progress. 138 physicians, allied health, and PCN personnel attended, with engagement from 10 PCNs. Resources, including a summary reference sheet were distributed to all registrants.