Syphilis also is highly curable in most cases, but left untreated, it can lead to diseases of the heart and brain, as well as cause blindness. Speaking at a sexually transmitted disease meeting in Milwaukee, Valdiserri, who is with the CDC, says infection with gonorrhea also increases the risk of getting HIV by two to five times. He adds that the high rate of infections in mostly southern states is directly related to poverty and inadequate access to prevention and treatment. The CDC, which released the new report, says about 65 million Americans are currently living with a sexually transmitted disease and millions more will become infected each year. The majority of these infections occur among people under age 25.
Researchers say some of the increase of such diseases are in gay and bisexual men.
In Baltimore, where the rate of syphilis is one of the highest in the country, the local health department recently began aggressively fighting the spread of the infection. A spokesperson for the Baltimore City Health Department tells WebMD the city created a training program for health professionals to teach them how to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases. They also have a mobile medical van that goes into communities at highest risk to address treatment and prevention. The efforts seem to be working. Additional good news is that rates of babies being born with syphilis have gone down by about half nationally.