U.S. syphilis rate up for 7th year in row, CDC says (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. syphilis rate rose for theseventh straight year in 2007, driven by a continued surge incases among homosexual and bisexual men, the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

Since 2000, when the national syphilis rate sank to a lowof 2.1 per 100,000 people after a decade of progress in the1990s, the rate has soared by 76 percent, the CDC reported.

Homosexual and bisexual men accounted for 64 percent ofsyphilis cases in 2007, up from about 5 percent in 1999.

CDC officials expressed concern not only because the recentincreases in this bacterial sexually transmitted diseasefollows years of declines, but also because syphilis canelevate a person's risk of being infected with the AIDS virusand the odds of giving it to someone else.

They also called rises among women and blacks troubling.

The overall national rate of syphilis rose by 16 percent in2007 from 2006, reaching 3.7 cases per 100,000 people, based onpreliminary CDC data released at a meeting in Chicago.

The rate for men was 6.4 per 100,000, a 14 percent risefrom 2006.

The number of syphilis cases nationwide jumped to 11,181 in2007 from 9,756 in 2006, with men accounting for six times asmany cases as women. Rates for men and women had been roughlyequivalent a decade ago.

Syphilis hit the black community very hard, with ratesseven times higher for men and 14 times higher for women thanamong whites, the CDC said. The rate for black men, 21.5 casesper 100,000, has risen 99 percent since 2003.

Syphilis rates have been surging in homosexual and bisexualmen in the past decade, particularly among those who are highlysexually active with multiple sex partners.

RISKY BEHAVIOR

"Having multiple sex partners and other high-risk behaviorslike not using condoms do put you at higher risk for HIV andsyphilis," CDC epidemiologist Dr. Hillard Weinstock said in atelephone interview.

"Syphilis can increase the likelihood of HIV transmissiontwo to fivefold. And CDC recommends that sexually active menwho have sex with men get tested for syphilis, HIV and otherSTDs at least annually," Weinstock added.

"It is imperative that we make STD screening and treatmenta central part of the medical care for gay and bisexual men,"while also finding ways to avoid these infections including HIVin the first place, said Dr. Kevin Fenton, who heads the CDC'sSTD, AIDS, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis prevention effort.

Weinstock said despite the increases of this decade,syphilis rates remain lower than in the past.

After reaching 50,000 cases and a rate of 20.3 cases per100,000 people in 1990 -- the highest rate since 1949 -- publichealth efforts helped drive down the rate to 2.1 per 100,000people in 2000.

"We are concerned that the increases that we're seeing nowcould continue," Weinstock said.

Syphilis is passed person-to-person through direct contactwith a syphilis sore. Transmission of the organism occursduring vaginal, anal or oral sex. Pregnant women with syphiliscan pass it to their babies.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Philip Barbara)