As syphilis rates surge nationally and in North Texas, federal and local health officials visited Parkland Health in Dallas on Thursday to discuss community outreach and treatment for the disease.
Adm. Rachel Levine, (HHS), said syphilis has 鈥渋ncreased dramatically.鈥�
鈥淭his is a treatable bacterial illness,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need from a public health point of view, locally, statewide, and federally, to be addressing this issue.鈥�
A recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed . That includes rates of congenital syphilis, where a person with syphilis passes it on to their baby during pregnancy.
Texas had the fourth worst rate of congenital syphilis in the country in 2022, behind New Mexico, South Dakota and Arizona. The state had a rate of 246.8 per 100,000 live births.
HHS is holding engagement events in states hit hard by the epidemic.
鈥淲e really try to understand what things are like on the ground, and also then to give them encouragement and support and ask how we at the federal government can help them,鈥� Levine said.
When left untreated, people鈥檚 vision, muscle strength, memory and hearing. When pregnant people aren鈥檛 treated for syphilis, said Levine, it can cause birth complications, like miscarriage or infant death.
鈥淲e need to make sure that the medical community is educated about syphilis, and that we鈥檙e doing the prevention efforts, testing and treatment effort that is required,鈥� she said.
Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like syphilis also disproportionately impact Black people. 鈥淚n 2022, 31.1% of all cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and鈥yphilis were among non-Hispanic Black or African American persons, even though they made up only 12.6% of the US population.鈥�
Emily Adhikari, , said reducing rates of syphilis transmission starts with outreach.
鈥淧eople I have heard from informally say, 鈥楽yphilis, is that still a problem?,鈥� and it is a huge public health problem,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut the awareness is not there, despite the past years where we in health care are all very aware of it.鈥�
Pregnant patients who have syphilis and received limited prenatal care have 鈥渢he worst outcomes in a post-natal period,鈥� said Adhikari.
鈥淏ut by then it鈥檚 too late for congenital syphilis, it鈥檚 already happened,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o how do we get those patients and find them where they鈥檙e at?鈥�
Adhikari said health leaders in Texas need to prioritize testing and treatment for syphilis.
鈥淚t is killing babies in Texas,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he attention needs to be there. Otherwise, we won't fix it.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Elena Rivera at erivera@kera.org
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