L C M E D S O C .O R G
Swipe Left on Syphilis In Pa!
BY YVONNE KINGON, SHERI HILT AND TOM BRODHEAD DISEASE INTERVENTION SPECIALISTS OF THE ALLENTOWN HEALTH BUREAU
I
f syphilis filled out a dating app profile, its relationship status would have to be: “It’s complicated.” But that hasn’t stopped it from getting around.
During calendar year 2020, Pennsylvania (exclusive of Philadelphia) reported the highest number of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis cases in almost 30 years. This mimics national trends: according to the CDC, the number of reported P&S cases in 2019 represented a 63% increase from 2015 and the highest reported number of cases since 1991. The numbers have been trending upward since 2010, but while the increase in cases from 2010 to 2017 was primarily driven by men who have sex with men, since 2017 the rise was driven
by increases among women and men who have sex with women. The surge in cases among women has led to a particularly tragic consequence: nationally, from 2013 to 2019, congenital syphilis, which can cause stillbirth and infant death, increased by an astonishing 417%. On the dating app, syphilis definitely has a preference for everyone. Further complicating the matter, depending on a wide range of factors including symptoms (or lack thereof), prior history of syphilis, and the date and results of prior tests, syphilis can be classified as primary, secondary, early latent, late latent, and tertiary. And if that weren’t enough, neurosyphilis, ocular, and otic syphilis can occur at any stage at all, even if there are no other symptoms. Continued on page 14 SPRING 2022 | Lehigh County Health & Medicine 13
