The number of newborns diagnosed with syphilis increased by more than twofold between 2013 and 2017 and have hit their highest rate in 20 years, MedPage Today reports.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers released their full Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report, in which they stated that 2013 saw 362 cases of congenital syphilis while 2017 saw 918 such cases. The case rate has been on the rise since 2012. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, the rate increased 44 percent. In 2017, there were 23.3 cases per 100,000 live births.

In a more limited report on sexually transmitted infections released a few weeks prior, the CDC noted that, overall, syphilis diagnoses have risen by 76 percent since 2013. In the new full report, the agency stated that between 2013 and 2017, the syphilis diagnosis rate per 100,000 females of reproductive age (15 to 44 years old) increased from 2.1 to 5.1 diagnoses.

To read the MedPage Today article, click here.