Detection of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum from Skin Lesions, Serum, and Cerebrospinal Fluid in an Infant with Congenital Syphilis after Clindamycin Treatment of the Mother during Pregnancy

Abstract

We report here a case of congenital syphilis in a newborn after clindamycin treatment in pregnancy. Using PCR detection of tmpC (TP0319) and DNA sequencing of the genes TP0136 and TP0548, DNA sequences identical to Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum strain SS14 were detected in the infant's skin lesions, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid.

Molecular Typing of Treponema pallidum in the Czech Republic during 2011 to 2013: Increased Prevalence of Identified Genotypes and of Isolates with Macrolide Resistance

“…When combined with previous results, four different alleles (S, U1 to U3) of TP0136 have been found in the Czech Republic since 2004. Compared to the TP0548 locus, which revealed nine different alleles (S, U1 to U8) since 2004, TP0136 appears to have lower discrimination power than previously suggested (5,8,22,23). A lower discrimination power of this locus was also found by Marra et al (4).…”

Clarithromycin Treatment Failure due to Macrolide Resistance in Treponema pallidum in a Patient with Primary Syphilis

“…In particular, it should be used for syphilitic individuals with nonpenicillin treatment regimens, since T. pallidum is a non-cultivable organism and antibiotic resistance cannot be assessed using in vitro bacteriological methods. Treponemal DNA in syphilis can be detected from numerous types of clinical samples, but it is usually found in mucocutaneous swabs and whole blood (14).…”

“…Nested PCR detection of tmpC was performed as described previously (14). The PCR protocol for polA was modified for nested PCR, and detection was performed using the same conditions for both reactions (11).…”

Sequencing-based Molecular Typing of Treponema pallidum Strains in the Czech Republic: All Identified Genotypes are Related to the Sequence of the SS14 Strain

“…A nested PCR detection of polA (TP0105) and tmpC (TP0319) genes was performed as described previously (12,20,24). TP0136, TP0548 and 23S rRNA genes were amplified using nested PCR according to Matëjkova et al (25).…”