Syphilis becoming more resistance to antibiotic

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 13 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PST

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The CDC has found that Azithromycin is not curing some cases of syphilis.

Cases of syphilis are rising in the USA. More worrying is that syphilis is starting to resist one of the main antibiotics doctors use to treat it. The antibiotic is Azithromycin.

In the years 2002 and 2003 eight cases were recorded where the drug had no effect on syphilis, says the CDC. The patients were eventually cured with doxycycline or penicillin.

15 million people contract STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) in the USA each year, says the American Social Health Association.

Each year there are 3 million new cases of chlamydia, 650,000 of gonorrhea, 70,000 of syphilis, 1 million of herpes, 5.5 million of human papillomavirus, 77,000 of hepatitis B, 5 million of trichomoniasis and 20,000 of HIV.

Many clinics in the USA have stopped using azithromycin for most cases of syphilis if the patient is HIV.

Syphilis can be a dreadful disease if left untreated. It can lead to arthritis, heart disease, mental insanity, death, miscarriages, stillbirths and awful complications for the newborn. It also accelerates the spread of HIV.

Azithromycin seems not to be effective in treating syphilis for patients with HIV, it still works fairly well with non-HIV patients.

The USA's syphilis rate has been rising three years non-stop. The rise is mainly among gay and bisexual men. Last year 60% of cases happened among men who had sex with other men.

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