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 Reported cases of the sexually transmitted disease are up by 70%
since 2010, a report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention
and Control (ECDC) showed - with the rise driven by more unprotected
sex and riskier sexual behavior among gay men.
"The increases in syphilis infections that we see across Europe ...
are a result of several factors, such as people having sex without
condoms and multiple sexual partners, combined with a reduced fear
of acquiring HIV," said Andrew Amato-Gauci, an ECDC expert on
sexually transmitted infections.
The European report comes after the World Health Organization said
last month that around a million people each day worldwide catch a
sexually transmitted infection.
Left untreated, syphilis can have severe complications in men and
women, including causing stillbirths and newborn deaths and
increasing the risk of HIV. Syphilis was one of the leading causes
of baby loss globally in 2016.
The Stockholm-based ECDC, which monitors health and disease in
Europe, said that overall, more than 260,000 syphilis cases were
reported from 30 countries from 2007 to 2017.
In 2017, syphilis rates reached an all-time high with more than
33,000 reported cases, the ECDC said. This meant that for the first
time since the early 2000s, the region reported more cases of
syphilis than new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
that causes AIDS.
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But the problem varied significantly by country, with rates more
than doubling in five countries - Britain, Germany, Ireland, Iceland
and Malta - but dropping by 50% or more in Estonia and Romania.
Close to two-thirds of the cases reported between 2007 and 2017
where sexual orientation was known were in men who have sex with
men, the ECDC report said, while heterosexual men contributed 23% of
cases and women 15%.
The proportion of cases diagnosed among men who have sex with men
ranged from less than 20% in Latvia, Lithuania and Romania to more
than 80% in France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and
Britain.
Amato-Gauci said complacency among men who have gay sex and seem
unconcerned about HIV risks appeared to be fuelling the problem. "To
reverse this trend, we need to encourage people to use condoms
consistently with new and casual partners," he said.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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