Early congenital syphilis, latent

This code signifies a stage of congenital syphilis where the infection is present in an infant or child, typically under two years of age, but without overt clinical signs or symptoms. The diagnosis is primarily based on serological evidence of syphilis in the absence of active disease manifestations.

Use this code when documentation confirms a diagnosis of congenital syphilis in an infant or young child (generally up to age 2) who is asymptomatic but has positive serologic tests for syphilis (e.g., reactive VDRL/RPR and FTA-ABS/TP-PA). This often occurs following treatment of the mother during pregnancy, or when the infant is born to an untreated mother but shows no active disease.

• Distinguish from symptomatic early congenital syphilis; this code is specifically for the latent form.
• Ensure documentation clearly states "latent" or "asymptomatic" in the context of early congenital syphilis.
• Consider sequencing this code as a primary diagnosis if the latent syphilis is the reason for the encounter, or as a secondary diagnosis if other conditions are being managed.