Three years after Chicago led the nation in new syphilis cases, data released Monday show that cases here have dropped 25 percent as the numbers rose across the rest of the nation.
City health officials launched an extensive public-awareness campaign in 2001, putting advertising about the disease everywhere from the elevated train to the tops of urinals in gay bars. Many believe the campaign was successful because it was not aimed at changing sexual behavior but encouraging people to get tested.
These efforts are now being highlighted as a model for fighting sexually transmitted diseases at the National STD Prevention Conference in Philadelphia this week–particularly for Chicago’s success in reducing syphilis rates among gay men, including a 20 percent decline in the past year.
After decades of decline, the number of cases nationwide has increased steadily in the past three years. Nationally, cases of syphilis have jumped 18 percent since 2000, according to preliminary statistics for 2003 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Chicago, 264 cases of syphilis were reported last year. Syphilis presents special dangers. Because making contact with a syphilis sore is akin to an exchange of bodily fluids, syphilis often increases the chances of transmission of HIV nearly fivefold, according to the CDC.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease spread by contact with a sore called a chancre. Condoms, which are often used as a barrier against HIV and other STDs, don’t always prevent syphilis because the sores can be anywhere on the body.
