Science News – Once on the path to eliminating syphilis, the United States has reversed course, with cases of the infectious disease surging.
From a low of under 32,000 cases in 2000, the number of people with syphilis has rocketed to more than 207,000 in 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in January. That’s 62 cases per 100,000 people.
The crisis is hitting babies especially hard.
The maternal rate for syphilis during pregnancy rose from 87 per 100,000 births in 2016 to 280 per 100,000 births in 2022, the CDC reported on February 13.
Without treatment, [infected women] can pass a syphilis infection to the fetus.
That can cause congenital syphilis and lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, severe health problems after birth or the infant’s death.
“We have a whole public health infrastructure imploding with decreased access and funding.” – Public health advocate Allison Agwu, who seems to think that syphilis spreads by inadequate taxation, not promiscuity.
More than 3,700 babies were born with syphilis in 2022, roughly ten times the number in 2012.
Testing is a crucial step in finding cases. Syphilis is “the great pretender,” says Allison Agwu, a pediatric and adult infectious disease clinician and researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “It can look like a bunch of other things.”
The disease moves through several stages, at times featuring symptoms common to other conditions and at other times having no symptoms.
People can get tested — usually with a blood test — by their primary care provider or at a public health clinic or an urgent care facility, for example.
With syphilis rates so high, Agwu would like to see testing for syphilis destigmatized and become easier to discuss as part of a regular medical checkup. [The loss of stigma around sexual promiscuity is the cause, not the cure, for syphilis. –n
“If you have been sexually active ever, you should have a syphilis test,” she says.
Science News spoke with Agwu about the surge in cases and what needs to be done better to prevent syphilis. The interview was edited for length and clarity …
