Online Infections in Pregnancy course

What's new in congenital CMV and syphilis. This course is supported by Mercy Perinatal and hosted by Praxhub.

Summary

This Infections in Pregnancy module provides an important update for GPs on congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) and syphilis, both of which can have devastating consequences for the developing baby.

CMV is the most common congenital infection resulting in childhood disability in Australia, yet less than 20% of Australian GPs are confident in providing advice on CMV in pregnancy[1].

Syphilis notifications in women of childbearing age have quadrupled between 2015 and 2020[2]. Untreated syphilis leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes in about 50% of affected pregnancies[3,4].

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Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

This medical education activity has been approved for 1.5 CPD hours with the RACGP and ACRRM. 

Additional CPD hours for Reviewing Performance (RP) and/or Measuring Outcomes (MO) can be self-recorded directly with your CPD home/college.

If you complete an optional mini-audit, you can self-record CPD hours with the help of a downloadable mini-audit template found on the Infections in Pregnancy course home page.

To self-record Reviewing Performance (RP) hours you are invited to participate in a research evaluation of this eLearning course by completing 3 short surveys: before, immediately after, and 8 weeks after you complete the course.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this activity, you will be able to:

  1. Describe the risks CMV and syphilis pose in pregnancy and potential sequelae of intrauterine CMV or syphilis infection.
  2. Identify which patients should receive CMV counselling and syphilis testing prior to and during pregnancy, integrating infection prevention education into routine antenatal care.
  3. List the behavioural interventions that reduce risk of CMV acquisition; outline the primary mechanism of patient-to-child transmission of syphilis.
  4. Determine when it is appropriate to test for CMV and syphilis and how to order and interpret appropriate serology.
  5. Outline when a pregnant patient requires non-GP specialist management for CMV or syphilis infection, and what medical follow up is required for babies affected by CMV or syphilis during pregnancy.

Course fees

This course is free.

Course Authors

Professor Lisa Hui: Obstetrician, specialising in maternal-fetal medicine

Dr Natalia Rode: General Practitioner & Medical Educator

A/Prof Hayley Smithers-Sheedy: Senior Research Fellow, Cerebral Palsy Alliance

A/Prof Natasha Holmes: Infectious Diseases Physician

Kath Swinburn: Research Officer, Cerebral Palsy Alliance

This online course was developed and is made available thanks to the organisations listed below. We would like to thank them for their contribution.

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The speakers