Young adults today may have never heard of syphilis — and that’s a good thing. Syphilis is a serious sexually transmitted infection that was almost wiped out in this country a few years ago. Just think, it nearly went the way of smallpox and the bubonic plague. Goodbye and good riddance.
Public health programs combined education, prevention and treatment, and the number of cases steadily declined until 2000 when it reached the lowest point since records were kept. The low rate of infectious syphilis and the concentration of the majority of syphilis cases in a small number of geographic areas in the United States led to the development of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Plan to Eliminate Syphilis.
While the number of cases was small, the rate of increase jumped sharply, especially among certain groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the estimated proportion of syphilis cases attributable to men who have sex with men increased from 7 percent in 2000 to 64 percent in 2004. You don’t have to be a math major to know an increase like that is a bad thing. As is the case with many issues related to disease, racial and ethnic minority populations, adolescents and men who have sex with men bear a greater burden of disease.
In Washington, the majority of people with syphilis are residents of King County and nearly all men.
So what went wrong? How did we lose the game?
A combination of factors contributed to this unfortunate situation. Funding for public health has been cut, abstinence-only education withheld crucial information about condom use and perhaps there was a sense of invincibility in young people who had previously avoided STIs.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection that if caught during the early stages is easily cured with antibiotics. The problem is initially it can have minimal or transient symptoms. Untreated, syphilis has devastating long-term consequences.
Condoms offer good protection. If you think you may have been exposed, get tested. Any unusual discharge, sore or rash, particularly in the groin area, should be a signal to refrain from having sex and to see a doctor immediately.
Another concern primary syphilis presents is a painless open sore. This creates an opening into the body for other types of infection. There’s a link between syphilis and HIV infection.
Occasionally, perhaps because of embarrassment or lack of health insurance, people try home remedies, herbal or natural remedies or over-the-counter medications to cure infections. These will not cure syphilis, although the symptoms may go away. The infection will stay and continue to progress and permanently damage the body.
The most critical prevention method is condoms.
Send your sexual health related questions to [email protected] will be kept anonymous and answered with medically accurate information.
– See more at: file:///Volumes/argonaut$/stories/sections/opinion/stories/2012/March/6/back_from_the_brink.html#sthash.myuD69Ro.dpuf
Public health programs combined education, prevention and treatment, and the number of cases steadily declined until 2000 when it reached the lowest point since records were kept. The low rate of infectious syphilis and the concentration of the majority of syphilis cases in a small number of geographic areas in the United States led to the development of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Plan to Eliminate Syphilis.
While the number of cases was small, the rate of increase jumped sharply, especially among certain groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the estimated proportion of syphilis cases attributable to men who have sex with men increased from 7 percent in 2000 to 64 percent in 2004. You don’t have to be a math major to know an increase like that is a bad thing. As is the case with many issues related to disease, racial and ethnic minority populations, adolescents and men who have sex with men bear a greater burden of disease.
In Washington, the majority of people with syphilis are residents of King County and nearly all men.
So what went wrong? How did we lose the game?
A combination of factors contributed to this unfortunate situation. Funding for public health has been cut, abstinence-only education withheld crucial information about condom use and perhaps there was a sense of invincibility in young people who had previously avoided STIs.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection that if caught during the early stages is easily cured with antibiotics. The problem is initially it can have minimal or transient symptoms. Untreated, syphilis has devastating long-term consequences.
Condoms offer good protection. If you think you may have been exposed, get tested. Any unusual discharge, sore or rash, particularly in the groin area, should be a signal to refrain from having sex and to see a doctor immediately.
Another concern primary syphilis presents is a painless open sore. This creates an opening into the body for other types of infection. There’s a link between syphilis and HIV infection.
Occasionally, perhaps because of embarrassment or lack of health insurance, people try home remedies, herbal or natural remedies or over-the-counter medications to cure infections. These will not cure syphilis, although the symptoms may go away. The infection will stay and continue to progress and permanently damage the body.
The most critical prevention method is condoms.
Send your sexual health related questions to [email protected] will be kept anonymous and answered with medically accurate information.
– See more at: file:///Volumes/argonaut$/stories/sections/opinion/stories/2012/March/6/back_from_the_brink.html#sthash.myuD69Ro.dpuf