Syphilis strikes 85 gays in Los Angeles

SUMMARY: More than a year ago, health officials in Los Angeles County declared they had nearly beaten an outbreak of syphilis among gay men. But so far this year there are 85 new cases.

More than a year ago, health officials in Los Angeles County declared they had nearly beaten an outbreak of syphilis among gay men. But the germs didn't get the message. Eighty-five new cases have been reported in the county this year, reflecting a nationwide resurgence of the disease.

According to the Los Angeles Times, all of the new cases were among gay men, a sharp contrast with previous years when the disease mainly struck heterosexuals. Last year at this time, only 69 cases had been reported.

The Times quoted health officials as saying most of the syphilis patients had looked for sex at bathhouses, bars and clubs.

Fred Leaf, acting director of the Department of Health Services, told the Times that medical officials fell down on the job by not continuing last year's syphilis awareness campaign. "We kind of did it for 60 days and stopped," he said.

Cities from Seattle to New York have reported increased cases of syphilis among gay men, apparently because of a decline in safer-sex practices. Syphilis can be spread through anal, oral and vaginal sex, although latex condoms can provide some protection.

The early symptoms of syphilis include painless sores but can move on to fever, skin rashes and hair loss. While penicillin can knock out syphilis, the disease can cripple or kill if left untreated.

Experts suspect that men with syphilis are also more susceptible to contracting HIV because sores give the virus more places to enter the body. Of the men who contracted syphilis in Los Angeles County this year, 58 percent were HIV-positive.

The rise in cases of syphilis among gay men has thrown a wrench into federal plans to virtually eliminate the disease in the U.S. by 2005. The efforts focused on heterosexuals because many medical officials never thought gay men would abandon safe sex.

"There was a wide assumption that sexual safety in gay men was now the norm and the expectation henceforth and forever," said Dr. H. Hunter Handsfield, director of Seattle's STD Control Program, in a recent interview.

To learn more about syphilis, visit this American Sexual Health Association fact sheet.