Upsurge in syphilis in Germany

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Upsurge of syphilis in Germany

29 July 2003 BERLIN - The incidence of syphilis is soaring in Germany, with gay men especially affected by the sexually transmitted disease, health officials said. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin, the German federal agency that tracks infectious diseases, said there were 2,275 cases last year, a rise of 720 compared to 2001, with the highest rates in the two big cities of Berlin and Hamburg.

Officials said the increase was mainly because homosexual men were taking more risks. Often syphilis was showing up as an accompanying infection to human immunodeficiency virus, the agent that causes AIDS.

 

 

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"Condoms do protect against infection, but are often not used in genital-oral contact where syphilis can be transferred," said Ulrich Marcus, an epidemiologist at the RKI.

 

As of 2002, 85 percent of the reported cases were among men. The figures showed no increase among heterosexual patients.

 

Marcus said other European nations had reported increases too.

 

"There has been a very similar development in Britain," he said. However, the rates were still well behind those in eastern Europe.

 

Experts believed Germany was often a first port of call in the spread of infection from the Balkan nations and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

 

The initial symptom of syphilis is a firm ulcer, with nearby lymph nodes swelling up in the weeks that follow. Six to eight weeks after infection, about a quarter of patients develop a rash. Damage to the nerves or brain can appear years later. Syphilis can be cured.

 

DPA