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Syphilis Rates Rise, Gay Men at Risk
Numbers raise fears that safe-sex practices are waning
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
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THURSDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDayNews) -- Syphilis rates continue to rise among gay men in the United States, dashing federal efforts to eradicate the disease and boosting fears that safer sex is on the wane.
"These findings suggest that unprotected sex may have increased among gay and bisexual men, particularly those living with HIV," says Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri, deputy director of the sexually transmitted disease department at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated half of gay men diagnosed with syphilis are also HIV-positive.
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The number of syphilis cases is still small -- just 6,862 were reported in 2002, according to figures on sexually transmitted diseases released Thursday by the CDC.
But that's 12.4 percent more than in 2001, and it's also an 85.2 percent increase among white males. The increase marks the second year in a row that syphilis cases in the United States have gone up after a decade of declines.
Syphilis is striking especially hard in four big cities -- Baltimore, Detroit, Newark and San Francisco. Their rates are as much as eight times higher than other cities like Philadelphia and Phoenix, officials say.
The new statistics are in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which did contain some good news on one other sexually transmitted disease: Gonorrhea, which affects both heterosexuals and homosexuals and is still far more common than syphilis, is at its lowest level in four years -- 351,852 cases in 2002. The disease can be treated with antibiotics, although new strains have developed immunity to some drugs in recent years.
But, the report also says, chlamydia remains the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, with a whopping 834,555 reported cases and an estimated 2.2 million more undiagnosed cases. Based on tests of young women at family planning clinics, chlamydia is most common in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the Virgin Islands, the report says.
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Copyright © 2003 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 11/20/2003
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SOURCES: Ronald O. Valdiserri, M.D., deputy director, HIV, STD and TB prevention center, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; David H. Martin, M.D., director, Louisiana STD Research Center, and chief, infectious diseases division, Louisiana Health Sciences Center, New Orleans; Nov. 21, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
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