All Victorian women of reproductive age are being advised to get tested for syphilis after a baby died in the womb when it contracted the disease from its mother.

It is the first fatal case of congenital syphilis recorded in the state in 14 years, and comes amid a resurgence of the dangerous sexually transmitted infection which has seen cases jump 40 per cent since 2015.

The syphilis bacteria under a microscope.

The outbreak, which last year affected a record 1337 Victorians, has mostly infected gay men. Nationwide, the disease has struck Aboriginal communities in Australia’s far north and South Australia, also causing baby deaths.

A growing number of women in Victoria have become infected (health authorities detected 146 in 2017), putting any unborn children they might have at risk of serious birth defects or death.