Melissa in the Morning: A Syphilis Resurgence

Blood sample positive with syphilis

Melissa in the Morning: A Syphilis Resurgence

The CDC is warning of a syphilis resurgence nationwide with the highest number of cases since 1950.  The CDC says more than 207,000 syphilis cases were reported in the U.S. in 2022, an 80-percent increase since 2018, which continues a decades-long trend.  African Americans and Native Americans are the most impacted groups. A disproportionate number of cases are among men who have sex with men but a quarter of the cases are now being diagnosed in women.  Congenital syphilis, passed along in utero to babies, is also climbing.  This, as a penicillin shortage is forcing doctors to ration the drug, prioritizing women and newborns. Dr. Browne weighs in on this.

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