Gay Men about syphyllis

Syphilis rises in U.S.; gay men cited
Randy Dotinga, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network

TODO More by Randy Dotinga
-->
published Thursday, October 31, 2002
American health officials hoped to finally conquer syphilis during this decade. But federal statistics released today show that cases of the sexually transmitted disease are rising for the first time since 1990, apparently because of a growing outbreak among gay men.
The number of reported syphilis cases in the United States grew to 6,103 cases in 2001, an increase of 2.1 percent over the previous year, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reported. The numbers may actually be higher because some doctors don't notify the government about their patients with the disease.
The syphilis rate among the general population remains extremely low, but gay men appear to be at special risk, even though nobody tracks the sexual orientation of patients on a national level.
Cases among women are dropping while they are rising among men, and there have been outbreaks of syphilis among gay men in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle.
In San Francisco alone, the number of syphilis cases is expected to grow to 500 this year from just 10 in 1998, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of STD Prevention & Control Services for the city's Department of Public Health.
While doctors can usually knock out syphilis with an antibiotic like penicillin, the disease can cause a variety of problems even in otherwise healthy people, Klausner said. Ten people in the city have suffered from serious visual and hearing loss because of the disease.
"It can be a serious infection with complications for some people," Klausner said. "We can't predict who those people are going to be, so it's important to prevent it and treat early."
The most common initial symptom is a painless sore or ulcer in the mouth, on the penis or around the anus, Klausner said. "It's painless and goes away after a week, so most people don't think it's syphilis."
Four to six weeks later, infected people will develop a rash along with other symptoms like fatigue, weakness and swollen glands. "Many people think that's the flu," he said.
Symptoms can disappear for years or even decades, but the disease often lies in wait and creates problems in the bones, the blood vessels or the brain, he said.
Among gay men, syphilis can be transmitted through both anal and oral sex. "We've seen people with ulcers on their tongue, on their lip, inside of their mouth," Klausner said. "Oral sex can definitely transmit it."