Syphilis cases among American adults have risen by 78 percent over a five-year period, with infections among newborns rising almost 10 times over a decade, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported.
Chlamydia alone accounted for 1,649,716 of the cases.
“The most alarming concerns center around the syphilis and congenital syphilis epidemics, signaling an urgent need for swift innovation and collaboration from all STI prevention partners,” the report said.
While cases of chlamydia declined between 2018 and 2022 and incidents of gonorrhea increased by only a tenth, syphilis cases jumped 78.9 percent during this period to 203,500 cases.
“Additionally, MSM [men who have sex with men] are disproportionally impacted by STIs, including gonorrhea and P&S [primary and secondary] syphilis, and co-infection with HIV is common; in 2022, 36.4% of MSM with P&S syphilis were persons with diagnosed HIV. ”
“More than 3,700 congenital syphilis cases were reported in 2022, reflecting an alarming 937 percent increase in the past decade,” the report said.
Laura Bachmann, acting director at the CDC’s division of STD prevention, said that “swift action” is urgently needed to slow the curve of the “syphilis epidemic.”
Syphilis has four stages—primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary.
According to the CDC, the primary and secondary stages, which are the most infectious stages of the disease, increased by 10 percent in 2022 alone. Since 2018, these cases have risen by 68 percent.
Steady growth in primary and secondary stage syphilis among women “fuels the congenital syphilis epidemic, threatening the health of babies,” Ms. Bachman said while pointing out that congenital syphilis cases jumped 31 percent in 2022 from 2021.
“Nearly every state reported having at least one congenital syphilis case. Some states are feeling the impact more than others—Texas, California, Arizona, Florida, and Louisiana represented 57 percent of all reported congenital syphilis cases. Tragically, these infections resulted in 282 stillbirths and infant deaths in 2022,” she said.
Black people accounted for roughly 30 percent of congenital syphilis cases in 2022. American Indian or Alaska Native people had the highest rate of congenital syphilis at one case per 155 births.
Pandemic Effect
The CDC report on rising syphilis cases comes as health departments across the United States are still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.If Congress does not prevent the funding cuts, roughly 800 disease intervention specialists would need to be laid off, according to the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD).
Mr. Harris estimates that the funding cuts would result in the layoff of 24 front-line staff members who work with people who have STIs.
The Infection
People who are sexually active and do not use a condom are at risk of syphilis. In the primary stage, individuals infected with syphilis can have sores on their body, usually around the penis, rectum, vagina, anus, lips, or mouth.As sores tend to be painless, people may not usually notice anything unusual about them. The sores typically last for around three to six weeks after which they heal themselves irrespective of whether the person received treatment or not.
However, even if the sores went away on their own, the CDC recommends infected people to receive treatment as this will “stop your infection from moving to the secondary stage.”
In the secondary stage, skin rashes can appear. Additional symptoms during the stage include fever, headaches, weight loss, sore throat, muscle aches, patchy hair loss, fatigue, and swollen lymph glands. In the latent stage, no visible signs or symptoms exist. The infection can continue for years.
The final tertiary stage usually happens 10-30 years after the infection. Most people do not reach this stage.
However, when the disease progresses to this level, it will start affecting various organ systems like the brain, nervous system, heart, and blood vessels. The condition can lead to death.
“Syphilis is curable with the right antibiotics from your healthcare provider. However, treatment might not undo any damage the infection can cause.”
In case the infant survives, they can suffer from deformed bones, enlarged liver and spleen, skin rashes, severe anemia, jaundice, meningitis, and brain and nerve issues.
“Babies who have CS need to be treated right away—or they can develop serious health problems.”
The CDC advises all pregnant women to get tested for syphilis during their first prenatal visit.