St. Louis Health Officials Alarmed Over Number of New Syphilis Cases Recorded in January
St. Louis health officials are "on alert" after the city recorded 15 new syphilis cases last month, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The city recorded a total of 65 syphilis cases last year. "This is more cases reported in the month of January than in any month in the last seven years," Nyla DeArmitt, a public health adviser for CDC and consultant to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said. Of the 15 new syphilis cases, 14 were among men. Of those 14 men, 11 said that they had sex with other men, and nine of those 11 men also are HIV-positive. "The fact that so many are HIV-positive is really alarming because it means they are having unprotected sex," DeArmitt said. The incidence of syphilis in Missouri in 2004 increased 41% over 2002, with most cases occurring among men who have unprotected sex with men (Hesman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/10).
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