Sharp increase in the number of babies born with syphilis in the United States

Recently, there has been a sharp increase in the number of babies born with syphilis in the United States. Protect your baby from congenital syphilis by getting tested for syphilis during your pregnancy.

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

How common is CS?

After a steady decline from 2008–2012, data show a sharp increase in CS rates. In 2017, the number of CS cases was the highest it’s been since 1997.

Public health professionals across the country are very concerned about the growing number of congenital syphilis cases in the United States. It is important to make sure you get tested for syphilis during your pregnancy.

I’m pregnant. Do I need to get tested for syphilis?

Yes. All pregnant women should be tested for syphilis at the first prenatal visit (the first time you see your doctor for health care during pregnancy). If you don’t get tested at your first visit, make sure to ask your doctor about getting tested during a future checkup. Some women should be tested more than once during pregnancy. Talk with your doctor about the number of syphilis cases in your area and your risk for syphilis to determine if you should be tested again at the beginning of the third trimester, and again when your baby is born.

Keep in mind that you can have syphilis and not know it. Many people with syphilis do not have any symptoms. Also, syphilis symptoms may be very mild, or be similar to signs of other health problems. The only way to know for sure if you have syphilis is to get tested.

Is there treatment for syphilis?

Yes. Syphilis can be treated and cured with antibiotics. If you test positive for syphilis during pregnancy, be sure to get treatment right away.

If you are diagnosed with and treated for syphilis, your doctor should do follow-up testing for at least one year to make sure that your treatment is working.

Find out more on the CDC Website.

Meth abuse driving spike in syphilis cases?

From HealthDay News …

A startling increase in syphilis cases among Americans may be linked to addiction to methamphetamine and other drugs, federal health officials said Thursday.

Between 2013 and 2017, the rate of syphilis infection among heterosexual men and women who use methamphetamine more than doubled, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

“While we don’t know the precise role that substance use may play in syphilis increases, we do know that substance use, particularly methamphetamine and injection drug use, has been associated with sexual behaviors that increase risk of acquiring syphilis and other STDs,” said lead researcher Dr. Sarah Kidd. She is a medical officer in the CDC’s division of STD prevention.

It is the risky behaviors that tend to go along with drug use that make one vulnerable to STDs, Kidd noted. These include having multiple sex partners, practicing inconsistent condom use, and exchanging sex for drugs or money.

“We also know that substance use can hamper prevention efforts,” Kidd added. People who use drugs may be less inclined to seek health services, and they may also be reluctant or unable to identify or locate sex partners, which can cause delays in diagnosis and treatment, she said.

Read the full article.

Historic Increase in Syphilis Infections

The Health Department is asking anyone who fits the criteria listed here to have a Syphilis test…

A rash on the palms of the hands or on the soles of the feet, back, chest, or stomach
A lesion (red sore) in the genital, rectal, or oral area
Moist papules in the mouth
Sudden scalp alopecia (loss of hair)
Sudden loss of eyelashes and eyebrows
Swelling of the lymph nodes
A recent positive test for another STD such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV or Hepatitis C

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection. If it goes untreated, it can lead to serious health problems including paralysis, blindness, and dementia. However, Syphilis is 100% curable with simple antibiotics.

Syphilis is spread through direct contact with a Syphilis sore during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. You can get Syphilis and not have any symptoms so the only way to know for sure you’re not infected is to get tested.

Several locations around the state have free Syphilis testing. Click on this link to find free testing at a State Health Centers.

To find out more about Syphilis, go to www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/stdfact-syphilis.htm

STD rates at all time high

Rates of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia have climbed for the fourth consecutive year in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DCD) announced recently. Last year, nearly 2.3 million US cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were diagnosed, which is the highest number ever reported.

Chlamydia, which remained the most common, is easily transmitted during any form of sexual activity. If not treated, chlamydia can cause permanent damage to the reproductive system. In men, the infection can spread to the tube that carries sperm from the testicles, causing pain and fever.

If not treated, gonorrhea can cause severe and permanent health issues, including problems with the prostate and testicles in men or problems with pregnancy and infertility in women. Gonorrhea is also typically treated with antibiotics but the threat of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea persists nationwide.

Syphilis can affect the heart, nervous system and other organs if left untreated. Syphilis is most often transmitted through sexual contact and is 100 percent curable with antibiotics.

Gonorrhea and chlamydia can infect other sites of the body such as the rectum and the throat and diagnosis requires a swab of each site. A urine test alone is not sufficient to diagnose STDs of the throat and the rectum. Additionally, all of these infections can be transmitted through unprotected oral sex.

It is important to remember that even if you don’t have symptoms, you can still be infected. If you’re sexually active, you should get tested for a full range of STDs, including the ones listed here. Don’t be shy about asking your doctor for a full screening. If you need to find free, confidential testing in your area, you can check the PA Department of Health listing here.

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Health Alerts are presented by the HIV Prevention and Care Project at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, with funding from the Pennsylvania State Department of Health.

Health Alert: Rates of STDs climbed for the fourth consecutive year in the US

Syphilis can affect the heart, nervous system and other organs if left untreated. Syphilis is most often transmitted through sexual contact and is 100 percent curable with antibiotics.

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For more information about Health Alerts, go to the Pitt Men’s Study Website.

Health Alerts are presented by the Pitt Men’s Study and the HIV Prevention and Care Project at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, with funding from the Pennsylvania State Department of Health.

Why STDs are on the rise in America

From the Economist online…

Much of the increase in STDs has come from gay and bisexual men. Although a relatively small share of the population, they accounted for 81% of male syphilis cases in 2016, according to the Centres for Disease Control. As with heterosexuals, this seems to be because sex is now seen as less risky. That is due to the advent of PrEP, a prophylactic drug cocktail which gay men can take to nearly inoculate themselves from HIV. The reduced chances of catching HIV—along with the fact that a positive diagnosis is no longer a death sentence—seems to encourage men to drop their guard. A recent study of gay and bisexual men, published in the Lancet, a medical journal, found that as more began taking PrEP, rates of consistent condom usage dropped from 46% to 31%. Recent studies have shown that uptake of PrEP is strongly associated with increased rates of STD infection.

All this shows that changing sexual mores, and a reduced fear of the risks of unprotected sex, seem to be at fault—especially since the problem is not just limited to America. England experienced a 20% increase in syphilis diagnoses in 2017 and a 22% increase in those of gonorrhoea. Other countries in western Europe have seen ever worse outbreaks, sometimes exceeding 50%. Dwindling public spending on STD prevention—which in America has fallen by 40% in real terms since 2003—is not helping matters. Yet the chief methods of prevention, abstinence and condoms, are tried and true. Should these options seem too chaste or chaffing, then prospective partners ought to get an STD test (especially since most infections can be cleared up with a simple course of antibiotics). Verified testing is vital since verbal assurances, especially on the cusp of a liaison, can be misleading.

Read the full article.

High numbers of HIV-positive MSM not being tested for syphilis

From healio.com…

Nearly one-third of sexually active HIV-positive men who have sex with men are not tested for syphilis at least annually, researchers reported in a recent study, calling the finding “concerning.”

Alex de Voux, PhD, an Epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, and colleagues sought to examine the proportion of sexually active HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) currently in care who were tested for syphilis in the past 3, 6 and 12 months by their HIV care provider.

A 2017 study showed that MSM accounted for more than 60% of syphilis cases nationwide in 2015. In that study, researchers determined that the rate of primary and secondary syphilis in the United States among MSM was 106 times that of men who have sex with women only.

In the current study, the authors noted that guidelines recommend that sexually active MSM, including HIV-positive MSM, be tested at least annually for syphilis, with testing every 3 to 6 months for MSM at elevated risk, and used this timeline to evaluate the group.

De Voux and colleagues used the most recent medical record and interview data collected by the Medical Monitoring Project, a population-based HIV surveillance system, from 2013 to 2014. The data showed that 71% of all sexually active HIV-positive MSM had at least one test for syphilis in the past 12 months. In the past 6 months, only 43% had been tested, and the number dropped to 22% in the past 3 months.

Researchers also examined the frequency of testing in MSM who reported risk factors, including having condomless sex and having sex with two or more partners.

Read the full article.

To find free syphilis testing near you, search by zip code on the CDC testing Website: gettested.cdc.gov

For more information about syphilis, its symptoms and treatment, click here.

Syphilis in people with HIV increased through 2015

From Infectious Disease Adviser…

The incidence rate of syphilis in people with HIV increased through 2015, according to new research published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Since 2000, the incidence of syphilis has increased among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. This represents an ongoing sexual risk, and temporal trends and associated risk factors for newly diagnosed syphilis infections among people with HIV were therefore investigated.

Data from HIV Outpatient Study cohort participants visiting 10 clinics in the United States from 1999 to 2015 were analyzed. A total of 6888 participants with HIV were included, and 641 had one or more new syphilis diagnoses during a median follow period of 5.2 years. Participants were mostly male, age 31 to 50 years (78%), and the majority were MSM (56%).

Read the full article.

HIV rate among gay and bi men between the age of 25 to 34 rose 45% between 2008 and 2015

During that time, the rate dropped 15 percent nationally and rose 25 percent among Latino men who have sex with men.

From Poz Magazine online…

While the national annual HIV infection rate dropped by an estimated 15 percent between 2008 and 2015, a few key subgroups saw a rise in yearly new HIV infections, also known as HIV incidence. During this period, HIV incidence among 25- to 34-year-old men who have sex with men (MSM) increased by an estimated 45 percent while the rate increased 25 percent among Latino MSM.

These figures come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new, in-depth analysis of epidemic trends in the United States. Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the report is a more precise and granular version of reports on epidemic trends that CDC officials presented at the 2017 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle a year ago.

At that time, the agency estimated that HIV incidence declined 18 percent between 2008 and 2014. This new estimate, therefore, represents a disappointing reduction in that hopeful figure.

Prior to 2008, HIV incidence was essentially stable in the United States for the two decades since the beginning of the modern era of combination antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

Read the full article.

Sexually active men in Pennsylvania need to get tested for Syphilis

Pennsylvania is experiencing an alarming increase in Syphilis cases, primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM). The State Department of Health reports that new Syphilis infections are primarily among minority MSM under the age of 25. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that cases of new STDs are at record highs nationwide, including an 18 percent increase in Syphilis infections.

Several locations around the state have free Syphilis testing. Click on this link to find testing near you.

To find out more about Syphilis, go to www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/stdfact-syphilis.htm