The U.S. has seen a record increase in syphilis cases

The number of syphilis cases in the U.S. has reached its highest level since the 1950s, according to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report released in late January.

The Centers' latest report said the number of cases of this sexually transmitted infection (STI) rose nearly 80 percent between 2018 and 2022, to more than 207,000 new cases in the last year. This figure includes both sexually transmitted syphilis and congenital syphilis, which is transmitted from pregnant woman to fetus through the placenta.

Rates of the most contagious stages of syphilis, called primary and secondary, rose in all age groups and in all regions across the country. But rates were particularly high in certain racial and ethnic minority groups, namely American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Compared with other segments of the population, these groups also had the highest rates of congenital syphilis in 2022, with 1 out of every 155 births getting the disease.

In terms of purely overall rates, black and Hispanic communities had the highest rates of congenital syphilis in 2022.

According to the report, there were more than 3,700 cases of congenital syphilis in newborns in 2022 - more than 30 percent more than in 2021 and 937 percent more than in the past decade.

In the same year, the populations of Texas, California, Arizona, Florida, and Louisiana accounted for 57% of all reported cases of congenital syphilis. The disease resulted in 282 stillbirths and infant deaths nationwide, according to the report.

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