Syphilis cases in Salt Lake County increase by 800% among women
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — Salt Lake County health officials reported an “alarming” increase of 800 percent in cases of women contracting the sexually transmitted infection syphilis.
The health department said from 2018-2022, Salt Lake County saw an 800 percent increase in disease among women.
Of those cases, 89 percent involved women between the ages of 15-44.
Broadening the data to all individuals in Salt Lake County, not just women, officials report from 2018-2022, the disease increased overall by 65 percent.
Numbers detailing the exact number of cases Utah’s most populous county has seen were not made available by officials.
Officials said the data is particularly concerning as the majority of women contracting syphilis are of child-bearing age, which increases the risk of newborn syphilis in the community.
Syphilis during pregnancy can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage or neonatal death and surviving infants who don’t receive the proper treatment can experience long-term health impacts such as blindness and deafness.
“In 2022, we saw our first case of syphilis in a newborn since 2008,” said Dr. Angela C. Dunn, executive director of SLCoHD. “Newborn syphilis is especially unfortunate because it’s completely preventable—we can keep newborns from suffering by ensuring women have affordable, convenient access to syphilis testing and treatment, as well as appropriate prenatal care.”
Utah’s data comes days after the national data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called rising newborn syphilis cases “dire,” with a nearly 32 percent increase in the last year.
The new report also found that a lack of timely testing and adequate treatment of pregnant women carrying the disease resulted in 88 percent of this year’s cases, with communities of color being hit the hardest.
Testing is key in treating syphilis, which is a sexually transmitted infection. The disease is treatable with antibiotics but can become more dangerous the longer it is untreated.