Syphilis Patients on the Rise in Eastern Slovak Republic

Ondrej Bobik, head of the STD clinic in Trebiov Hospital in the eastern Slovak town of Trebiov, believes the increasing number of syphilis patients in southern Zemplin is a regional phenomenon resulting from the social and political changes after the fall of communism. "This is the situation in more places than southern Zemplin. A similar increase in instances of syphilis has been recorded in surrounding countries, particularly in Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Hungary," Bobik said.

Trebiov Hospital recorded a significant growth of syphilis cases this year. While in previous years, the hospital treated three to four patients for syphilis annually, the hospital has treated several dozen such cases since the beginning of 2002. Trebiov Hospital treats patients from the southern Zemplin area in the southeast of the country.

Bobik said that he could not remember seeing such a high number of patients in the last 30 years. Based on the background of patients treated this year, he said that there were two particular groups at risk -- a specific group of Roma living in the area, and promiscuous people, mainly prostitutes.

Bobik said Roma with multiple sexual partners often come into his clinic with the early stages of syphilis. The local Roma community was helpful in identifying and contacting people who may have contracted the disease, he said. Milan Horvat, vice chair of the local Roma activist group, is helping the hospital contact and persuade individuals to visit the hospital and have checkups and treatment, the doctor added.

The other risk group, prostitutes, was involved in the sex tourism scene, said Bobik. The prostitutes treated in his hospital worked both in Slovakia and abroad. "[Prostitutes] from Zemplin who provide sexual services in the Czech Republic come for medical checkups and for treatment here," he said.

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