U.S. Syphilis Rate Increases; Mississippi Decreases

State Epidemiologist Mary Currier said Mississippi's syphilis rate continues to decline due to measures taken in the 1990s to reduce the number of cases. While the nation's syphilis rate has climbed for the second year in a row, Mississippi's cases dropped from 140 in 2001 to 48 in 2002. Currier said the state had more than 2,000 cases in 1994.

"What we started doing in the mid-90s, when we had such an increase of syphilis cases, was we put more people in the field to look for syphilis cases, to find their contacts and to provide preventative therapy to those contacts so that we can try and stop the spread of the disease," Currier said.

Currier said the state Health Department cooperates with community organizations, hospitals and clinics to keep them informed of syphilis outbreaks and to help them identify syphilis symptoms.

According to CDC, national syphilis rates rose 9.1 percent between 2001 and 2002 after having dropped every year between 1990 and 2000. The actual increase was small -- 759 new cases for a total of 6,862 -- but the rise among gay and bisexual men has caused concern over the erosion of the public health safeguards and safe-sex practices adopted over the last twenty years.

"We're seeing syphilis rise primarily in groups of gay and bisexual men," said Dr. John Douglas, director of CDC's division of sexually transmitted diseases.

In Mississippi, however, two-thirds of last year's syphilis cases were female. "That spread was likely heterosexual in that case," Currier said. "Certainly, when any high-risk group is identified in the nation, it's another reason for us to be sure that we're providing prevention education to the groups."

Back to other news for November 24, 2003