The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now warning that cases of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis are now at ‘dire levels.’
Newborn syphilis cases, which can be fatal, have risen more than tenfold in the last decade and almost 32% in a single year, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Tuesday.The CDC said that cases have reached “dire levels” in the United States. More than 3,700 cases were reported to the agency last year, up from 2,855 in 2021 and 335 cases in 2012.Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by bacteria that can linger in the body for many years. If untreated, symptoms may disappear temporarily, but the infection can become active again months or years later. Late-stage syphilis, though rare, can be fatal because of damage to the heart, brain or other organs.
Mothers can also pass the disease to their children during pregnancy, which is referred to as congenital syphilis. Fetal infection with this bacteria can create a wide array of adverse effects on various organs and systems, resulting in deformed bones, anemia, and brain disorders. Miscarriages, stillbirths, and low birth weights are also possible outcomes of congenital syphilis.
The report contains the disturbing news that women who were tested and found positive for the disease then failed to pursue the appropriate treatment:
“You may not know you have syphilis, and that’s why it’s so important, particularly when pregnant, to get tested,” Dr. Debra Houry, the chief medical officer at the CDC, told ABC News.However, the data show that more than half of the babies with congenital syphilis in 2022 were born to women who tested positive for syphilis during pregnancy but did not get appropriate treatment.The CDC claimed that individual- and system-level barriers to care — such as substance abuse and limited health care access — are to blame for the lack of proper testing and care and urgently need to be addressed.
We have covered many examples of formerly contained pathogens and third-world diseases now spreading across the country. Unchecked immigration from areas with infectious diseases, with no method to address public health protections, will tend to degrade the health profile of a nation.
Then, there is the explosion in drug use. Legalized marijuana and illegal opioids (especially fentanyl laced with the zombie-drug xylazine have spread throughout the country. If women are so addicted to opioids to the point they let the flesh rot from their bodies, there is little chance prenatal care will be a top priority for them.
Yet, the government is passionately intent on controlling Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine.
The CDC’s disturbing report is likely a sign of things to come. Syphilis and other prevalent sexually transmitted diseases are beginning to show signs of developing resistance to antibiotics.
The CDC says that gonorrhea is among three diseases called “urgent threats” for their potential to become more widespread. This means that many of the antibiotics once used to treat it no longer work. Currently, the CDC recommends a single 500-mg injection of ceftriaxone.Other STDs, such as syphilis and chlamydia, have shown early signs of antibiotic resistance.The threat prompted the World Health Organization last year to release new guidelines for treating the three STDs. The organization says drug resistance “has increased rapidly in recent years and has reduced treatment options.”
The syphilis bacteria (Treponema pallidum) is difficult to study in laboratories because it is so fragile, making it challenging to develop new treatment options.
Because of that fragility, researchers have been limited in their ability to develop new syphilis diagnostics, treatments, and preventive measures such as vaccines. Effective treatments are additionally challenging, experts say, because of T. pallidum’s ability to evolve resistance to antibiotics. Left untreated, in about 15 to 30 percent of infected people, the disease can permanently damage the brain, heart, and other organs and be life-threatening. Congenital cases can cause birth defects, stillbirth, and premature death.New techniques to grow the bacteria in the lab may make it easier to study syphilis. But doing so will require more researchers focused on the disease. “There is an entire generation of clinicians and researchers who may have never seen or thought about syphilis,” said Ina Park, an associate professor of family community medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Now, she added, “we need to catch up.”
But, perhaps the most chilling aspect related to the news about syphilis: As of October, the antibiotics used to treat syphilis were in short supply in this country:
The preferred antibiotic treatment for syphilis is in short supply across the United States as infections soar, and more than three dozen leading public health groups are urging the White House to intervene.The National Coalition of STD Directors and 38 other public health groups sent a letter to members of the White House Drug Shortage Task Force on Monday that detailed how clinics are reporting trouble placing orders for the go-to syphilis drug Bicillin — a long-acting injectable form of the antibiotic penicillin — and those that have been able to place orders are receiving only partially filled or delayed orders.
So, while the CDC can cry for more testing…without effective treatments, we will lose the war against syphilis. It would be another complete defeat for the public health “experts” we trusted to protect us…and our children.
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