Syphilis remains in the body and begins to damage the internal organs, including the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver bones, and joints. In about one-third of untreated persons, this internal damage shows up many years later in the late or tertiary stage of syphilis. This damage may be serious enough to cause death. Having had syphilis does not protect a person from getting it again. In the United States, nearly 38,000 cases of syphilis were detected by health officials in 1998, including 7,000 cases of primary and secondary syphilis and 800 cases of congenital syphilis in newborns.
More cases occur each year than come to the attention of health officials.
These states had rates 2-5 times higher then the national rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma ranked 9th in the nation in reported cases of syphilis in 1999. Contributing factors to Oklahoma being ranked 9th in the nation included Oklahoma County being ranked 6th county in the nation for syphilis cases, and at one point had the fastest growing rate of early syphilis diagnoses in the nation. Primary and secondary syphilis cases in Oklahoma have steadily declined since 1992. Oklahoma had 163 cases of primary and secondary syphilis diagnosed in 1999, with 114 of those being in Oklahoma County.