‘Nasty disease’: Warning syphilis cases on the rise

The number of syphilis cases in New Zealand has soared in the past six years.

In the year to the end of March,

548 cases of the sexually transmitted disease were reported, up from 82 in

2013. The latest figures from ESR show the number of cases has doubled in the past two years alone.

Syphilis is predominantly affecting Pa¯keha¯ men aged 20 to 39, particularly men who have sex with men, or MSM.

ESR public health physician Jill Sherwood said the rise in cases here followed other developed countries and had started to spread into the heterosexual population.

“The initial rise may have been because amongst MSM who had been very proactive about safe sex because of the fear of HIV infection and as HIV became considered as a treatable, chronic disease then perhaps that has led to some change in risk-taking behaviour in terms of not practising safe sex in the same degree.

“We have seen with syphilis a gradual change from occurring in MSM in an older population to being in younger men and perhaps they have not had the same degree of caution around their sexual practices.”

Nearly half of all cases are in Auckland, followed by Christchurch and Wellington.

“Syphilis is a nasty disease.” She said if it was left untreated it could lie dormant for years but then cause serious neurological effects and heart problems and could “eventually kill people if left untreated”.

It can be transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy, causing “early miscarriage, stillbirth and an increased rate of death following delivery” and congenital deformities and problems in the babies that do survive.

Radio New Zealand