:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/47WLN4GEQRFRTBLMTM7XT7GNX4.jpg "Alaska sees steady rise in infants diagnosed with syphilis")
Syphilis cases have increased in recent years in Alaska, with record numbers of cases of the deadly disease, which is transmitted from mothers to babies during pregnancy. New State Health Report.
“We’ve seen an upward trend,” said Riley Fitting, an epidemiology researcher at the Alaska Department of Health and lead author of a new report tracking congenital syphilis cases in Alaska from 2018 to 2022. .
Only one case was reported in 2018, but 12 were reported in 2022. A total of 26 cases were detected in that five-year period, the report said.
Congenital syphilis is defined as cases of syphilis transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy. Alaska epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin said the infection could have devastating effects on the health of the baby if it is not detected and treated early in pregnancy.
It can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, severe anemia, jaundice, blindness and hearing loss, meningitis and skin rashes. Up to 40% of untreated syphilis in pregnancy kills infants, McLaughlin said.
In many of the cases reported in Alaska, the mothers had many risk factors, Fitting said.
“One of the things we found was that in many cases prenatal care visits were either absent or limited,” he says. Many of the mothers in the incident also reported substance abuse and housing instability.
[Alaska Legislature approves postpartum Medicaid coverage extension]
Fitting and McLaughlin said this week that an alarming rise in congenital syphilis is part of a broader state, national trend of Incidence of syphilis increases sharply The same is true for sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.
In 2021, Alaska will report 442 cases of noncongenital syphilis, a significant increase from 33 in 2017. McLaughlin said the rise in syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections is linked to changes in adult sexual habits and lack of sexual desire. awareness and education.
“I think when people think of syphilis, they think it’s a disease of the past,” McLaughlin said. “But we have actually seen a major resurgence of syphilis cases across Alaska and across the country.”
He also cited a shift to telemedicine visits during the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor in the increase.
“There’s a lot of research being done through telemedicine that’s hampering STD testing,” McLaughlin said.
The growing popularity of dating apps is also a factor.
“The nationwide proliferation of dating and sex-finding apps has led to more people having multiple sexual partners,” he said. “These apps make it easy for people to find anonymous sexual partners. it’s a national contributor It leads to an increase in sexually transmitted infections. ”
Fitting and McLaughlin said increasing prenatal STD testing and health care for high-risk mothers is critical to addressing this worrying trend.
“Sometimes people can’t afford prenatal care and don’t know how to get affordable health care. So that’s the barrier,” McLaughlin said.
Alaskans can get free or reduced medical care through local health centers. In Anchorage, the city’s health department, as well as the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, offer sliding rates as needed.
Alaskans can also visit iknowmine.org The STI screening kit will be mailed to your home free of charge.
