Syphilis on the rise again

Sexually transmitted syphilis on the rise again

12/12/2013

Syphilis belongs to the group of sexually transmitted diseases. Pathogen is the bacterium „Treponema pallidum“. The infectious disease is mainly transmitted during sexual intercourse, but can also be passed on to other people through blood contact or blood transfusions. Actually syphilis was considered extinct in the industrial nations as far as possible and belonged rather to the history. Since 2004 the illness is again clearly on the rise.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reports that more than 4,400 syphilis cases were reported in 2012. Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of 20 percent. Experts are worried about the future, although the sexually transmitted disease is actually well treated with penicillin nowadays. Looking back a little further into the past, the numbers are a reason against a further spread to act. In 2009, the RKI registered 2,742 new cases of syphilis. Men are more affected than women.

"Unlike HIV, syphilis affects the slightly older, the 30- to 39-year-olds, most severely," explains Armin Schafberger of Deutsche Aidshilfe. The spread is not limited to individual regions. "The strongest increases we have in the big cities, but not only there," says the RKI expert Viviane Bremer. Because of their high risk of infection must medicate the disease. Specifically, this means that the laboratory doctor, who determines the syphilis requiring treatment, passes the patient name on to the Robert Koch Institute.

In the initial stage, however, the disease is hardly discernible and many sufferers do not even know that they have been infected. Although syphilis and HIV can be proven by a simple blood test, in some cities and regions offers are not sufficient due to tight budgets.

The typical symptoms at the beginning of syphilis include painless ulcers on the genitals, which are characterized by a hard edge. In the further course it can come to rashes, fever and also hair loss. If the disease is not treated, it can last for years and even cause serious organ damage. These include the so-called neurosyphilis, which can lead to serious damage in the brain and spinal cord. Initial analyzes of the figures by the RKI for the year 2013 indicate a further increase in syphilis diseases. Experts suggest that behind the rise is the trend towards unprotected intercourse and some „condom fatigue“ the Germans is a possible cause. (Fr)

Picture: S. Hofschlaeger