The state of Oregon has seen a significant rise in syphilis cases in recent years.
In 2011, there were 167 recorded cases of syphilis, and that number more than doubled by 2013 and 2014, when the number of cases were 405 and 404, respectively.
According to the Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority, more than half of Oregon's new syphilis cases in 2012 involved men with HIV, and that over the last decade, the large majority of cases involve men who have sex with men.
In the first quarter of 2015, there were 239 early cases of syphilis, according to
information provided by Josh Ferrer, the STD/HIV Prevention Technical Consultant of the Oregon Health Authority. If the first quarter trend continues for the rest of the year, that will amount to 956 cases of syphilis, almost six times as many as in 2011.
All of these figures represent new cases each year, and not repeat cases.
Karen Landers, Marion County Health Officer, said the increasing prevalence of online settings and other places where people can meet anonymously may play a role.
In addition, Sean Schafer, a physician with the HIV/STD and tuberculosis section of the Oregon Public Health Division, said there is actually a trend of decreased condom usage in the past decade. He said this can be attributed to advances in the ability to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, which leads people to believe that they will be safe without a condom.
Schafer also reiterated the notion of online sites and phone apps allowing people to connect and seek out sexual relationships, often anonymously.
Syphilis presents itself in stages, with the early stages involving sores or lesions on the body, eventually turning into a rash, and then few or no symptoms at all, but the disease is still present, which can be confirmed when a blood test is conducted.
Syphilis is curable with one or multiple injections of basic penicillin, but if it is not addressed fairly early on, there may be lasting effects, such as damage to the heart and brain, and an increased risk to develop dementia and even blindness.
Although syphilis is fairly easily curable if addressed early on, contracting and curing the disease does not make one immune for life. It can be contracted multiple times.
Landers recommends abstinence as the number one strategy for preventing any sexually transmitted disease. She also emphasized that involving oneself in a monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested is the second most viable approach, and for those with more active sexual lifestyles or those who choose to have more than one partner, the best course of action is to always use a condom and to only be involved with people that have been tested for STDs.
State of Oregon syphilis cases by year
2010: 108
2011: 170
2012: 311
2013: 405
2014: 404
2015 (1st quarter): 239
Marion County syphilis cases by year
2010: 5
2011: 4
2012: 6
2013: 23
2014: 31
2015: not yet available
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