Syphilis

Syphilis

Syphilis is believed to have infected 12 million people in 1999, with greater than 90% of cases in the developing world. It affects between 700,000 and 1.6 million pregnancies a year, resulting in spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, and congenital syphilis. In sub-Saharan Africa, syphilis contributes to approximately 20% of perinatal deaths. Rates are proportionally higher among intravenous drug users, those who are infected with HIV, and men who have sex with men. In the United States, rates of syphilis as of 2007 were six times greater in men than women, while they were nearly equal in 1997. African Americans accounted for almost half of all cases in 2010.

Syphilis was very common is Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. In the developed world during the early 20th century, infections declined rapidly with the widespread use of antibiotics, until the 1980s and 1990s. Since the year 2000, rates of syphilis have been increasing in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and Europe, primarily among men who have sex with men. Rates of syphilis among American women have, however, remained stable during this time, and rates among UK women have increased, but at a rate less than that of men. Increased rates among heterosexuals have occurred in China and Russia since the 1990s. This has been attributed to unsafe sexual practices, such as sexual promiscuity, prostitution, and decreasing use of barrier protection.

Untreated, it has a mortality of 8% to 58%, with a greater death rate in males. The symptoms of syphilis have become less severe over the 19th and 20th centuries, in part due to widespread availability of effective treatment and partly due to decreasing virulence of the spirochaete. With early treatment, few complications result. Syphilis increases the risk of HIV transmission by two to five times, and coinfection is common (30–60% in a number of urban centers).