The outbreak of syphilis in Alaska is growing rapidly, with cases more than doubling from 2018 to 2019, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.<\/p>\n
“I think that what’s driving this outbreak is it’s gotten into a population of folks who are hard to find and don’t want to talk to us about their partners,” said Susan Jones, HIV\/STD program manager for the State of Alaska’s epidemiology section, in a phone interview. “In order to control the outbreak, you have to find everybody that has an infection and get them treated. You have to identify all of the sexual partners who may have been infected and get them treated.”<\/p>\n
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that begins with sores and rashes and can eventually spread, attacking the neurological system, heart, brain and other organs, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the DHSS, 94% of cases are found in urban areas, including Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley region. The initial outbreak was concentrated in men who had sex with men, Jones said, but has sense jumped populations to men who have sex with women as well.<\/p>\n
“When this outbreak started in 2018, we saw a huge uptick of cases in March,” Jones said. “To have that many cases in three months, we knew something was going on. We tried to talk to everyone.”<\/p>\n
Alaska has long had some of the highest STD rates in the nation, Jones said, and this syphilis outbreak is the largest number of cases ever reported in the state. Some of the causes of that are outbreaks in populations with high risk factors, who are difficult to identify and help.<\/p>\n