Syphilis cases on the rise in the ranks

Syphilis cases on the rise in the ranks
Military.com
By Patricia Kime, Staff writer
October 21, 2015

As with civilians, the military population has been affected: from January 2010 to August 2015, 2,976 troops were diagnosed with syphilis, according to the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.

Syphilis cases are rising among active-duty troops — to the tune of a 41 percent increase since 2010, according to a new Pentagon report.

In the past month alone, the Navy saw nine new cases, as many as the sea service's diagnoses of Lyme disease, salmonella and giardia combined, according to a separate Defense Department monthly report on infectious diseases in the ranks.

Syphilis is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease that, if left untreated, can cause blindness, dementia and paralysis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the disease was "on the verge of elimination" in the U.S. at the turn of the century. But it has rebounded with a vengeance, particularly among gay males, the CDC found.
read more here