Syphilis cases in the United States are rising at an alarming pace, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Tuesday.
“We have long known that these infections are common, but we have not faced such severe effects of syphilis in decades,” said Laura Bachmann, the acting director of the Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention at the CDC. “We cannot continue to use decades-old prevention strategies to address today’s STI epidemic.”
The public health agency’s annual STI Surveillance Report released on Tuesday found more than 2.5 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia in the U.S. in 2022.
Although cases of gonorrhea decreased by nearly 9%, syphilis cases increased by 17% from 2021 to 2022, amounting to nearly 204,000 cases in total. Syphilis infections have also increased by nearly 80% in the past five years.
“CDC’s annual report underscores that STIs must be a public health priority,” a press release from the agency reads, urging public health officials and policymakers to “redouble prevention strategies.”
Syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are bacterial STIs that are often easily treatable with antibiotics. The CDC said in its press release that the observed increase in STIs may be in part due to disruptions in health screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There are no shortcuts, and we have to meet people where they are,” Bachmann said, encouraging healthcare professionals to reach patients through outreach rather than relying on them to seek treatment independently. “Some people face tremendous barriers to STI prevention and health services.”
“Because STIs often do not show symptoms, and screening is necessary for timely diagnosis and treatment, changes in access to sexual healthcare can affect the number of infections diagnosed and reported,” the agency’s press release said.
The CDC issued a similar warning in November about the increasing rates of congenital syphilis, which occurs when a pregnant mother passes the STI to her child in utero.
“Steady growth in [cases of] syphilis among women fuels the congenital syphilis epidemic, threatening the health of babies,” Bachmann said.
Rates of congenital syphilis increased by nearly 31% in 2022 and are up nearly 184% since 2018. There were 3,755 cases of congenital syphilis in 2022, including 282 congenital syphilis-related stillbirths and infant deaths.
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Although men continue to have higher rates of syphilis and other STIs than women, syphilis rates in women between the ages of 15 and 44 have risen in recent years, increasing by over 19% in 36 states and Washington, D.C.
“Every case is one too many when we have the tools to prevent it,” Bachmann said. “We must find a way to apply the tools we have more effectively and acknowledge that innovation is overdue and new primary prevention strategies are now necessary.”