Explore the latest advancements in STI screening and management, focusing on pediatric care and the critical role of early detection in newborns.
To mark Sexual Health Awareness Month, Contemporary Pediatrics partnered with Contemporary OB/GYN for a cross-specialty discussion on advances in sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening and management. The session, moderated by Kylee Johnson, MS, APRN, focused on how updated diagnostic tools and regulatory changes affect both maternal and pediatric care.
Neonatal specialist Brooke Redmond, MD, highlighted the pediatric implications of untreated maternal infections, including congenital syphilis, HIV, and neonatal herpes. She noted that pediatricians play a critical role in early detection, follow-up testing, and multidisciplinary collaboration to safeguard infant outcomes.
Diagnostic scientist Denise Haney, PhD, of Roche Diagnostics, outlined how molecular testing platforms are reshaping STI detection, offering higher sensitivity and expanding into at-home collection kits. For pediatric providers, understanding these diagnostic shifts is vital—both for counseling parents and for coordinating care with obstetric colleagues.
Panelists emphasized that rising congenital STI rates demand vigilance from pediatricians, who are often the first to identify early signs in newborns or to provide ongoing care for infants exposed during pregnancy or delivery.
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Redmond and Johnson have no relevant disclosures to report. Relevant disclosures for Heaney include Roche.
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