Health Officials Alarmed by Syphilis Cluster in Michigan
Health officials in Michigan have discovered a concerning cluster of syphilis infections that have affected the eyes of several women. The cluster, involving five women, is linked to one infected man and raises the possibility of a new strain of syphilis bacteria adapted to cause systemic syphilis. This is particularly concerning, as the disease can affect the eyes and central nervous system.
The findings of the cluster were published by Michigan health officials in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Typically, ocular syphilis is rare and only found in about 1 percent of syphilis cases. However, in this cluster, all five women had early-stage infections, contrary to the usual late-stage occurrences. Additionally, the cluster was the first documented case of heterosexual transmission being linked to the spread of ocular syphilis.
The chain of cases began to unravel in March 2022 when the first woman, Patient A, reported to the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department. She exhibited symptoms of blurry vision, fear of blindness, and genital lesions. After testing positive, she reported having had only one sex partner in the past 12 months – the man she met online. In the following months, four other women exhibited similar symptoms and identified the same partner as the source of the infection.
According to Michigan state health officials, no other cases have been linked back to anyone in the cluster since all the individuals involved have been treated for their infections. However, the presence of this worrying cluster highlights the dire state of sexually transmitted infections in the United States. National cases of syphilis have increased by 74 percent from 2017 to 2021, and the number of babies born with syphilis has also risen significantly in recent years.
Health officials remain hopeful that wider surveillance and identification of all sex partners will help to pinpoint and stop the spread of this mysterious strain of syphilis. However, the concerning cluster has sparked a sobering conversation as the country continues to grapple with the increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections.