Significant increase in syphilis infections

Renaissance of syphilis diseases increased significantly

06/19/2012

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of syphilis diseases in Germany rose massively last year. The number of reported syphilis infections increased by more than 20 percent in 2011, according to the RKI's statement on Monday.

„In 2011, with a nationwide incidence of 4.5 syphilis infections per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest incidence since the introduction of the Infection Protection Act in 2001 was registered“, write the experts of the RKI in a recent Epidemiological Bulletin. The observed trend in syphilis infections is according to the RKI „worrying“.

Significant increase in syphilis infections in 2011
In total, 3,998 syphilis infections were reported in 2011 according to the RKI, which represents a dramatic increase compared to the infection numbers from the previous year (3,033 infections). „The number of reports has thus returned to the level of 1986“, so the message of the RKI. After a period of stagnating numbers of infections between 2004 and 2008, as well as recently decreased infection numbers in 2009 and 2012, the trend reversed in 2011. The recorded increase in syphilis infections in 2011 was „worrying“, reports the RKI. In eleven states, a significant increase in the number of syphilis infections was noted. Only in Thuringia, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate the number of illnesses fell slightly, in Saarland and Saxony-Anhalt remained „the incidence almost equal“, so the message of the RKI. In contrast, there are marked increases in new cases in the city states of Berlin (incidence of 18 infections per 100,000 inhabitants), Hamburg (incidence 13.3) and Bremen (incidence 7.9), as well as above-average syphilis infection numbers in North Rhine-Westphalia (incidence 5 , 5) and Hessen (incidence 4.6). Apart from the city states of Berlin and Hamburg, the highest incidences were found in large cities such as Cologne (Incidence 24), Frankfurt (Incidence 21) and Munich (Incidence 17.3), according to the information in the Epidemiological Bulletin of the RKI.

Gender differences in syphilis infections
The most common cause of the infectious disease is, according to the Robert Koch Institute „Sex between men“. So accounted for „84 percent of all information on the probable route of infection on such sexual contacts“, reports the RKI. Correspondingly rose „The number of syphilis reports is higher in men than in women (23% vs. 13%)“, so the statement in the Epidemiological Bulletin. Overall, the proportion of reported syphilis cases in women was according to the RKI „only at 6.4 percent“. The incidence of syphilis in men with 8.6 infections per 100,000 inhabitants was 14 times higher than the incidence of women (0.6), according to the report of the institute. Syphilis is usually transmitted during intercourse, whereby sex with a sick partner causes a relatively high risk of infection. „Since the risk of HIV transmission increases in the presence of a syphilis infection, it is important that syphilis infections are detected and treated early“, remind the RKI experts in the current Epidemiological Bulletin.

Symptoms of syphilis disease
Syphilis is a bacterial infectious disease that is characterized in the early stages by the formation of reddish ulcers at the sites where the pathogens have invaded the skin or mucous membrane. These ulcers initially remain painless and usually an aqueous liquid. Weeks after infection, sufferers will experience symptoms reminiscent of flu, such as fever, headache and body aches. Itchy rash and swelling of the lymph nodes are other typical consequences of the infection. (Fp)

Picture: Gerd Altmann