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Friday, July 29, 2016

Bloggytown

Miami has a serious syphilis problem

Posted By Colin Wolf on Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 1:30 PM

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Photo via Jacek Zarzycki/YouTube

Wrap it up, Miami.

According to the Miami Herald, over the last three years the rate of syphilis infections reported in Miami-Dade and Broward counties has risen faster than anywhere else in Florida and most of the country for that matter.

In a recent STD surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area had the nation’s fourth-highest rate of syphilis with 14.1 cases per 100,000 people.

On top of that, according to the state health department, two counties in South Florida have 42 percent of the 5,340 syphilis cases reported in Florida from 2013-2015, reports the Miami Herald.

From the Herald:

Through June 2016, one Miami-Dade clinic has reported a dramatic spike in new cases among its adolescent patients.

“We have seen more cases in the first six months of this year as opposed to the last two years,” said Alex Moreno, clinical manager for the University of Miami Health System’s Promote to Protect program, which operates a testing site and a primary care clinic that focus on HIV-positive teens and young adults.

He said the program’s clinic logged 13 syphilis cases in 2015, and 12 so far this year.

Syphilis is curable with penicillin, but left untreated it can cause serious long term damage and, because it involves open sores, can leave you more susceptible to HIV.

Tags: Miami, syphilis, Image

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