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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 05-1601

NOTICES

Special Procedures to be Taken Due to Annual Rate of Syphilis in Specified Counties

[35 Pa.B. 4883]

   The Department of Health is publishing this notice, in accordance with 28 Pa. Code § 27.89 (relating to examinations for syphilis), that based on 2004 data, the annual rate of syphilis in the Counties of Allegheny, Bucks, Dauphin, Erie, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Philadelphia and Westmoreland is at or above the level at which special precautions are to be taken. This notice is in addition to the Statewide requirement for syphilis testing contained in 28 Pa. Code § 27.89(a)(1)(i) that directs a physician who attends, treats or examines a pregnant woman for conditions relating to pregnancy to offer the woman a test for syphilis at the time of first examination.

   Women residing in the Counties of Allegheny, Bucks, Dauphin, Erie, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Philadelphia and Westmoreland are to be offered a test for syphilis in the following situations:

*  At the third trimester of pregnancy
*  At the delivery of a child
*  At the delivery of a stillborn child

   If a pregnant woman does not object, the test shall be performed in accordance with 28 Pa. Code § 27.89. If a pregnant woman objects, the regulation requires the person attending the woman to explain to her the need for the test. With respect to a woman who has given birth, information relating to the test or the objection to the test is to be recorded in both the woman's medical record and in the record of the newborn, as regulation states. In addition, physicians in these counties are encouraged to evaluate the need for maintaining special precautions on an individual patient basis.

   Persons with a disability who require an alternative format of this notice (for example, large print, audiotape, Braille) should contact James Logue, Acting Director, Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Health, P. O. Box 90, Harrisburg, PA 17108-0090, (717) 783-4677 or V/TT: (717) 783-6154 for speech and/or hearing impaired persons or the Pennsylvania AT&T Relay Service at (800) 654-5984 (TT).

CALVIN B. JOHNSON, M.D., M.P.H.,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-1601. Filed for public inspection August 26, 2005, 9:00 a.m.]


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