Syphilis Rate Among Gay Men Highest Since Start Of HIV Epidemic

[Riddick]

The rate of syphilis infection among homosexual men has increased to a level not seen since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Gail Bolan, director of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention said on Wednesday at an event held to lobby for federal funding to fight sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.

A CDC fact sheet on sexually-transmitted disease (STD) surveillance in 2014 refers to a “troubling rise in syphilis infections among men, particularly gay and bisexual men.”

“Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for 83 percent of male cases where the sex of the sex partner is known,” the fact sheet states. “Primary and secondary syphilis are the most infectious stages of the disease, and if not adequately treated, can lead to long-term infection, which can cause visual impairment and stroke.”

William Smith, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, said his group and other partners have requested $8.1 million in federal funding for fiscal year 2017 to fight STDs.

Featured at the event was a pink stuffed toy meant to represent the bacteria that causes syphilis. Smith said every lawmakers on Capitol Hill received one – or an equivalent toy representing the bacteria that causes gonorrhea – as part of an invitation to Wednesday’s event.

“Everyone on the Hill got syphilis or gonorrhea this week,” he quipped.

April is STD awareness month.

FULL STORY

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This is stinging news to some.

Remember kids, wrap your Willy!