The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is sharing through a report that nine cases of potentially fatal congenital syphilis were passed on to babies from their mothers in 2019.

The report shows an increase in congenital syphilis cases and adult syphilis. Cases of the illness have increased by almost ten times the amount in 2017.

There were 118 cases of infectious syphilis in 2017, 612 in 2018 and an estimated one-thousand in 2019 according to the WRHA. Cases of syphilis have been reported all across Manitoba and are not limited to one specific region.

"You could never know you have it until you take a blood test," Dr. Pierre Plourd from the WRHA says

The WRHA's public health director Dr. Joss Riemer suspects that the spread may because of a larger health issue in Winnipeg.

"Treatment may not be a high priority for people more focused on having a roof over their heads and food on the table," Dr. Riemer says.

Manitoba's homeless population is more susceptible to illness as they have more difficulty getting to a doctor, but cases of syphilis have been reported in all walks of life.

Syphilis is a bacterial infection and can be cured with a shot of penicillin if caught early. It often begins as a small, painless sore and can easily be spread. If a woman is pregnant while having the illness, it can spread to the infant and be potentially fatal.

Dr. Plourd says expecting mothers are given a blood test at each trimester to check for the illness and any others. Pregnant mothers who think they may have contracted the illness are asked to seek treatment immediately. 

"The sooner it is treated in pregnancy the less likely that spread will occur to the unborn baby," Dr. Plourd says.