Byrner
03-19-2008, 01:10 PM
Syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that was once rife in Britain, is making a comeback.
Prevention better than cureAnd doctors need to be retrained to spot the symptoms of syphilis as they face a resurgence of the sexually transmitted infection in rich countries of the world, scientists are warning.
The disease is on the increase in high income countries after a low incidence for the past two decades, with many doctors now unfamiliar with its symptoms, the authors of a study said.
The review, published in The Lancet, calls for renewed vigilance and training amongst health care professionals to combat the threat.
Dr Kevin Fenton, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, US, and colleagues, warned that the rise in rich countries was driven partly by gay men but also more recently by heterosexuals.
"The recent resurgence among men who have sex with men and some high-risk heterosexual couples raises cause for concern, and demands renewed vigilance among, and training of, health-care professionals," the report said.
The authors said there have been "alarming recent trends" in relatively wealthy parts of the globe with the infection on the increase since 1996 in many northern and western EU countries.
Belgium reported a more than three-fold increase in cases between 2000 and 2002, while cases in Austria steadily increased from a low point of 124 in 1993 to 420 in 2002, they said.
Other major urban centres such as London, Dublin, Berlin, Paris, and Rotterdam, all showed "huge" increases in syphilis reports during this period, predominantly among populations of men who have sex with men, they added.
Increases in the UK were observed at first in larger cities but then progressed to suburban and rural settings, they said.
Increases have also been reported in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Syphilis has been known as the "great imitator" because so many of its symptoms are indistinguishable for other diseases.
The first well-recorded outbreak of the disease was in 1494 in Naples, Italy and it now infects around 12m people worldwide every year.
Figures for sexual health across the UK released by the Health Protection Agency in November last year showed new cases of syphilis stayed steady, with 3,702 cases in 2006 compared with 3704 cases in 2005.
But the overall trend for the last decade is that syphilis is on the rise.
News Source: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91251-1309698,00.html
Prevention better than cureAnd doctors need to be retrained to spot the symptoms of syphilis as they face a resurgence of the sexually transmitted infection in rich countries of the world, scientists are warning.
The disease is on the increase in high income countries after a low incidence for the past two decades, with many doctors now unfamiliar with its symptoms, the authors of a study said.
The review, published in The Lancet, calls for renewed vigilance and training amongst health care professionals to combat the threat.
Dr Kevin Fenton, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, US, and colleagues, warned that the rise in rich countries was driven partly by gay men but also more recently by heterosexuals.
"The recent resurgence among men who have sex with men and some high-risk heterosexual couples raises cause for concern, and demands renewed vigilance among, and training of, health-care professionals," the report said.
The authors said there have been "alarming recent trends" in relatively wealthy parts of the globe with the infection on the increase since 1996 in many northern and western EU countries.
Belgium reported a more than three-fold increase in cases between 2000 and 2002, while cases in Austria steadily increased from a low point of 124 in 1993 to 420 in 2002, they said.
Other major urban centres such as London, Dublin, Berlin, Paris, and Rotterdam, all showed "huge" increases in syphilis reports during this period, predominantly among populations of men who have sex with men, they added.
Increases in the UK were observed at first in larger cities but then progressed to suburban and rural settings, they said.
Increases have also been reported in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Syphilis has been known as the "great imitator" because so many of its symptoms are indistinguishable for other diseases.
The first well-recorded outbreak of the disease was in 1494 in Naples, Italy and it now infects around 12m people worldwide every year.
Figures for sexual health across the UK released by the Health Protection Agency in November last year showed new cases of syphilis stayed steady, with 3,702 cases in 2006 compared with 3704 cases in 2005.
But the overall trend for the last decade is that syphilis is on the rise.
News Source: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91251-1309698,00.html