Congenital syphilis in an infant at a Nigerian Hospital

ABSTRACT: A 2-month-old male infant was diagnosed as having congenital syphilis at the Outpatient children's Clinic at LAUTECH, Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso. He was delivered at a primary health center with an abnormally shaped nose and oval flesh-like swelling adjacent to the lateral wall of the left nostril. Over the first 2 months of life, he developed a slowly progressive swelling around the wrist. Despite several courses of antibiotics prescribed by several doctors at both tertiary and private hospitals, for an unknown illness, he did not get better. The mother of the infant referred her infant close to the postnatal age of 3 months. The case and the challenges encountered in making a diagnosis and management are discussed.