Fetal syphilis is the transmission of syphilis spirochetes from a pregnant woman infected with syphilis to her fetus through the blood of the placenta. Fetal syphilis usually occurs between the 4th and 7th months of a woman’s pregnancy. If infected with early syphilis, it often causes miscarriage, premature birth or stillbirth; if it is late syphilis, the fetus can often be saved, but the syphilis spirochete enters the fetus and infects the fetus with syphilis. Infants with syphilis are normal at birth, but within 3 weeks of birth they develop clinical symptoms, such as nasal congestion and difficulty suckling, which leads to malnutrition. Malnutrition can cause the infant to have an elderly appearance, with wrinkles, thin bones, and a weak, cat-like cry.