01/31/2024

Syphilis Numbers are Skyrocketing in the U.S.

The nation hasn't seen numbers like this since 1950

The U.S. syphilis epidemic is not abating, with the rate of infectious cases rising 9 percent in 2022, according to a new federal government report on sexually transmitted diseases in adults.

But there's some unexpected good news: The rate of new gonorrhea cases fell for the first time in a decade.

It's unclear why syphilis rose 9 percent while gonorrhea dropped 9 percent, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, adding that it's too soon to know whether a new downward trend is emerging for the latter. Total syphilis cases surpassed 207,000 in 2022, the highest count in the United States since 1950, according to data released Tuesday.

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.