Syphilis Persists in Fulton County, Georgia

Although syphilis infections in the United States have dropped to historic lows, the STD persists in some areas including Fulton County, Ga., the CDC said Wednesday. The county, which also runs the syphilis elimination program for the state of Georgia, is comparing strategies to see what's needed in spots where the disease is stubborn, said Dr. Adewale Troutman, director of the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness. In Fulton County, there were 203 cases of syphilis in 2000, a rate of 27.3 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants. Both of those measures fell from the previous year, when there were 221 cases, or 29.9 per 100,000 residents. Nevertheless, Fulton remains the sixth-worst locality in the United States for syphilis, behind the areas around Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Memphis and Baltimore. The disease remains clustered in a few counties and cities, primarily in the South, where it mostly affects poor residents who have less access to health care.

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