The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on Thursday showing that syphilis cases in the United States have doubled since 2000. About 84 percent of the cases were among gays and bisexual men.
Syphilis is a sexually-transmitted disease (STD) that can lead to more serious complications - even death, if left untreated. The infection can be acquired by direct contact during sex, or passed on from pregnant women to their babies. While the treatment is very easy, it can be avoided by skipping sex, being in a monogamous relationship and using condoms during the deed. There are three stages of syphilis, depending on the severity: primary, secondary, and latent.
In 2000, the CDC proudly announced that the syphilis rate in the United States dropped to its all-time low at a 9.6 percent rate lower - or 2.2 cases for every 100,000 people - than in 1999.There were only 5,979 cases of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis recorded at the time. The health agency attributed the decline to its national campaign to eliminate syphilis.
However, 13 years later, the cases more than doubled from 2.2 to 5.3 cases for every 100,000 people. The researchers analyzed data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) of states that reported sex of sex partners. They found out that syphilis cases have increased on all ages, races, and across 34 states in the country but mostly from the Western areas.
The report highlighted that syphilis cases among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men were the highest, accounting to 84 percent of the data or 13,113 cases. Incidents occured the most among those aged 25 to 29.
Syphilis cases among women remained low, at less than one percent.
Further details of the study can be read on the May 9 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
