Syphilis

The spread of syphilis across the globe was probably sparked by Christopher Columbus and his crew, who ferried the bacterium, or a version of it, from the New World to the Old World, according to a new genetic analysis published Monday. A comparison of 23 strains of Treponema pallidum bacterium found that the modern variety that causes the sexually transmitted disease was most closely related to bacteria collected from a remote tribe in Guyana.

The medical community has a new warning for HIV-positive gay and bisexual men. With syphilis rates in that population increasing dramatically, a study has found that, if left untreated, the sexually transmitted disease leads to mental confusion, blurred vision, difficulty walking or other serious neurological complications in about 1 in 50 HIV-positive men.

Syphilis rates in blacks, women and babies declined significantly between 1999 and 2004 but continued to rise overall, driven by a dramatic jump in infections among gay and bisexual men, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. About 64% of all the new syphilis cases in 2004 were in men who had engaged in homosexual activity, according to the CDC. That group made up 5% of the syphilis cases in 1999. Overall, the syphilis rates nationwide rose from 2.

New syphilis cases in Los Angeles County rose sharply in 2005 after leveling off in the previous two years, according to a report released last week. The tally of 1,217 cases was an increase of more than 40% from the 2004 total of 865 and nearly three times the number reported in 2001. Two-thirds of the new cases were among gay and bisexual men, but women saw a 56% increase over the previous year, according to the report by the county's Department of Health Services.

The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center administered the wrong kind of penicillin to more than 650 patients treated for syphilis or who had reported having contact with someone known or believed to have the disease, a federal investigation has shown. That's more than twice as many patients as previously believed.

The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center alerted county health officials Friday that it has administered the wrong type of penicillin to about 300 people seeking treatment for syphilis over the past five years. Penicillin therapy is the mainstay of treatment for syphilis, according to county health officials, but different formulas exist. Clients at the Gay & Lesbian Center were treated with Bicillin C-R instead of Bicillin L-A, the trade name for benzathine penicillin G.

Los Angeles and San Francisco have yet to see the sharp rise in HIV rates that health officials have been fearing ever since the two cities had syphilis outbreaks among gay and bisexual men earlier this decade. Health officials believed the syphilis outbreaks indicated that many gay and bisexual men were abandoning safe-sex practices and that a corresponding surge in HIV cases would soon follow. But large jumps in HIV cases did not occur. In San Francisco, only 1.

A public service ad paid for by the Los Angeles County public health agency to raise awareness about the dangers of syphilis has been rejected by local television stations that consider the content inappropriate. County health officials had signed off on the admittedly adult-oriented spot aimed at reaching gay men who are at greatest risk of getting the disease.

Palm Springs now has one of the nation's highest rates of syphilis, prompting a national alert asking health officials to watch for cases that may have originated in the desert resort community. The venereal disease is spreading primarily among men who have sex with men, state and local health officials said. There is concern that Palm Springs, a popular destination for gay visitors worldwide, could accelerate the disease's spread.

San Francisco health officials are hoping the Internet -- a catalyst in the spread of syphilis -- will encourage at-risk citizens to get tested and treated for the disease. This week, the San Francisco Department of Public Health -- in partnership with Internet Sexuality Information Services and Quest Diagnostics -- launched a Web site (www.stdtest.org) where visitors can make appointments for a free blood test at a nearby lab.