Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Samantha Hayes Reporting Every year the number of Syphilis cases has been increasing. Salt Lake Valley health officials are so concerned that Utah may join other states to soon call Syphilis an epidemic.
Health officials say in just the last three days three cases of the sexually transmitted disease were confirmed. And syphilis is more serious than other STD's. Doctors have been surprised to find out patients often don't know anything about the disease or how its spread.
And the symptoms of the disease disappear after the first stage. However over time syphilis silently infects the neurological system which can lead to blindness, dementia, and it can be fatal.
The number of cases of syphilis in Salt Lake County has increased in the last ten years. Many cases diagnosed last year came in toward the end of 2006.
Lynn Beltran, HIV/STD Program Manager: "It can be very serious and people are shocked. A lot of times people don't recognize it as an infection."
In 1996 Salt Lake County health department recorded 8 cases of syphilis. That number has grown and increased rapidly in 2002 with 11 cases. In just the last week, five cases of syphilis were reported in Salt Lake County.
Lynn Beltran, HIV/STD Program Manager: "Surrounding states and in other parts of the country have been in an epidemic situation for quite a while now and we have been concerned it would reach Utah and this cluster of cases is concerning to me that we may have reached that point now."
Most of the cases are diagnosed in the younger population 20-35. Lynn Beltran has compared notes with two other local health departments where this trend has also been noted. Officials are discussing an education campaign to get the word out.
