The Alarming Increase of Congenital Syphilis
The CDC reports that infections with gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis have hit an all-time high. Congenital syphilis has soared 203% in the past five years, and can be fatal.
Benjamin Ryan
🔬Health & science reporter | Contributor to: @NYTimes @NBCNews @Guardian @TRF | Other bylines: @WashingtonPost @TheAtlantic | Cancer Survivor | Columbia grad
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Super bad news on the STD front: The CDC reports that infections with gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis have hit an all-time high. Alarmingly, syphilis surged 32% between 2020 and 2021, including the same rate increase in congenital syphilis, which can be fatal. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/udRrCYbG0c
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) April 11, 2023 -
Alarmingly, cases of congenital syphilis--that's syphilis a newborn contracts from their mother--have soared from 941 cases in 2017 to 2,855 in 2021, a 203% five-year increase. Congenital syphilis can be fatal. 2/ pic.twitter.com/ak0ISYteyS
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) April 11, 2023 -
There is hope on the STD front: the potential for gay men & trans women who are at high risk of STDs to take doxycycline within 72 hours of sex. Recent studies have shown this greatly lowers STD risk. But there are concerns about drug resistant pathogens. 3/…
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) April 11, 2023 -
The CDC did not release statistics about the rise in STDs with respect to men who have sex with men. But in previous analyses, they have found that about 40% of syphilis cases are in this group. Gay and bi men have dramatically higher rates of STDs compared with straight people.
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) April 11, 2023 -
As I recently reported for @NBCOUT @NBCNews: https://t.co/GtZhdo20UJ
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) April 11, 2023 -
Note that syphilis was *nearly eliminated* in the 1990s. So to have it come roaring back so unabated represents a shocking public-health failure.
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) April 12, 2023