{"id":49917,"date":"2019-09-18T15:03:46","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=49917"},"modified":"2020-09-22T15:52:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T19:52:44","slug":"how-common-is-syphilis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/how-common-is-syphilis\/","title":{"rendered":"How common is Syphilis?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Syphilis can be serious, but it is treatable<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Syphilis is on the rise.\nThis sexually transmitted infection (STI) was at one time virtually wiped out. But\ndoctors have recently noticed a dramatic increase in the number of syphilis cases\nin Ottawa and across Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Paul MacPherson, an infectious disease specialist at The\nOttawa Hospital, said that Ottawa has seen significantly more cases as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How common is syphilis in Ottawa? In 2018, there were 151\ncases of syphilis in Ottawa compared to 27 in 2013. This represents an increase\nof more than 400%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is what you need to know about syphilis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is syphilis?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ottawapublichealth.ca\/en\/public-health-topics\/syphilis.aspx\">Syphilis<\/a> is an infection that can be passed from person to person through direct contact with a sore or bodily fluids of someone with syphilis infection. This contact often happens during sex. Syphilis can be serious but is treatable with antibiotics to avoid long-term complications. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Syphilis can be asymptomatic, which means you may not have\nany symptoms. When they do occur, symptoms of syphilis can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Painless genital sores, lesions or ulcers<\/li><li>Rash<\/li><li>Fever<\/li><li>Flu-like symptoms<\/li><li>Swollen lymph nodes <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf you have a symptom of syphilis, such as a rash, you\nshould get tested,\u201d said Patrick O\u2019Byrne, Nurse Practitioner and Associate Professor\nat the University of Ottawa and Research Chair in public health and HIV\nprevention from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network.&nbsp; \u201cBut it\u2019s also important to get tested\nregularly with or without symptoms. Regular testing of any sexually transmitted\ninfection can help keep you and your sexual partners healthy, especially since\nsome STIs present with few to no symptoms.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who is at risk of getting syphilis? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re sexually active, you\u2019re at risk of getting\nsyphilis. To decrease your risk of syphilis, you should consider getting tested\nregularly and using a condom and dental dam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cSyphilis and other sexually transmitted infections are more common than many people realize.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What should I do if I think I have syphilis? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you have syphilis, contact your family doctor\nor a health-care provider right away. &nbsp;Ask them to test you for syphilis. If you\u2019re\ncomfortable, your health-care provider will ask about your sexual history and\nperform a blood test. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is still a stigma around syphilis and other sexually\ntransmitted infections. Remember that these kinds of infections are quite\ncommon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSyphilis and other sexually transmitted infections are more\ncommon than many people realize,\u201d said Dr. MacPherson. \u201cThe reason many of us\ndon\u2019t realize this is because we don\u2019t talk about it as often as we probably should.\nYou shouldn\u2019t be afraid to talk about your health and sexuality.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What happens if I test positive for syphilis? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you test positive for syphilis, know you\u2019re not alone.\nYour health-care provider will give you antibiotics and resources. Once the syphilis\nis treated, your health-care provider will perform another blood test to\nconfirm that the antibiotics worked and that you are syphilis-free.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, syphilis can be serious, but it is treatable. Talk\nto your health-care provider, your friends and your sexual partners about\nsyphilis. You can help break the stigma that surrounds this and many other\nSTIs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you aren\u2019t sure about whether you have syphilis or any\nother STI, contact your health-care provider. If you have syphilis, tell your\nsexual partners and advise them to get tested as well.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/365\/bmj.l4159\">Read Dr. MacPherson and\nPatrick O\u2019Byrne\u2019s article in the British Medical Journal<\/a> (BMJ)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/clinical-services\/deptpgrmcs\/programs\/family-health-team\/community-resources\/sexual-health\/\">Learn\nmore about syphilis prevention, symptoms and treatment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ottawapublichealth.ca\/en\/public-health-topics\/sexual-health-clinic.aspx\">Ottawa\nPublic Health Sexual Health Clinic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gayzonegaie.ca\/\">GayZone\nSexual Health Clinic in Ottawa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelinkottawa.ca\/en\/sexual-health\/sexual-health-clinics-and-services.aspx\">The\nLINK Sexual Health Clinics and Services<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Syphilis is on the rise. The sexually transmitted infection (STI) was at one time virtually wiped out.  But doctors have recently noticed a dramatic increase in the number of cases in Ottawa and across Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":49918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[412,411],"class_list":["post-49917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-population-health","tag-sexual-health"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}