Herpes Cases Fall, Syphilis on the Rise

Fewer U.S. teenagers and adults have the virus that causes genital herpes, but health experts said on Monday they were troubled by the recent resurgence in syphilis, especially among gay and bisexual men.

Fewer U.S. teenagers and adults have the virus that causes genital herpes, but health experts said on Monday they were troubled by the recent resurgence in syphilis, especially among gay and bisexual men. The findings, which were presented at the 2004 National STD Prevention Conference in Philadelphia, showed many Americans, especially gay and bisexual men and adolescents, were tuning out safe-sex messages. Researchers also reported high rates of the genital wart virus, Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, as well as chlamydia, another common venereal infection, and other sexually transmitted diseases among some groups. “STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) can cause serious medical consequences, including infertility, transmission to newborns, neurologic damage and increased risk of HIV transmission,” said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of HIV, STD and Tuberculosis prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “While we acknowledge the successful declines in herpes, overall STD rates in the U.S. remain alarmingly high,” Valdiserri said. The prevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2, the most common cause of genital herpes, declined to 17.6 percent among those aged 14 to 49 in the 1999-2000 period from 21.3 percent in the 1988-1994 period, according to data from two CDC surveys. The prevalence of the incurable virus, which can cause lesions in and around the genitals and anus and on the buttocks and thighs, fell 74 percent among those aged 14 to 19. Overall, 35 percent fewer men reported having the herpes virus. Health experts said the reasons for the decline were unclear. But a rising number of syphilis infections in men, particularly among those who are gay or bisexual, helped fuel a rise in the nation’s syphilis rate in 2003, according to preliminary data released by the CDC. SYPHILIS RATES RISING Last year, there were 7,082 confirmed cases of primary and secondary syphilis, the initial stages of the disease, compared with 6,862 cases in 2002, according to the data. The rate of syphilis rose to 2.5 cases per 100,000 people from 2.4 cases per 100,000 during the period. Syphilis rates have risen each year since 2000. CDC researchers estimated that 60 percent of the cases in 2003 occurred among men who had sex with men, compared with 5 percent in 1999. The resurgence of the disease in that high-risk group is of particular concern because of its links to the virus that causes AIDS. Studies have shown that syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases increase the likelihood of HIV infection. Up to 70 percent of gay and bisexual men infected in recent syphilis outbreaks in the United States were HIV positive. In addition to helping spread HIV, untreated syphilis can cause arthritis, heart disease, insanity and death as well as miscarriages, stillbirths and severe infections in newborn babies. On Monday, researchers from the Colorado Health Sciences Center also reported that more than 30 percent of women in a recent study were found to be infected with a strain of HPV, linked to cervical and anal cancer. In comparison, 18.7 percent of men carried HPV-16, one of 10 high-risk strains of the genital wart virus, the most common sexually transmitted disease in the nation. Researchers from Minnesota also presented a statewide study showing that nearly 10 percent of adolescent males had chlamydia.(Source: Reuters Health, March 2004)