Syphilis risk to anyone who has unprotected sex: AIDS committee
The Aids Committee of Newfoundland and Labrador says it's not surprised by recent numbers released by Eastern Health that show an increase in cases of syphilis throughout eastern Newfoundland.
Syphilis is a bacterial sexually-transmitted infection that is highly contagious.
The health authority identified 26 cases of syphilis in 2014.
So far this year, 15 cases have been confirmed — a jump in the number of syphilis cases health professionals expected to see within that short period of time.
Gerard Yetman, executive director with the Aids Committee, which launched a sexually-transmitted diseases awareness campaign in December, said he is interested in the reasons why the statistics have spiked.
"I'd like to think that the awareness campaign possibly encouraged people to take note of their unprotected sexual activities and went in to get tested," Yetman said.
Risk to everyone
Most of the new syphilis cases are in men between the ages of 20 and 49, who had sex with other men. Of all the cases that have been diagnosed, ten people are also infected with HIV.
However, Yetman said it's not just men who have sex with men who are affected.
"This is an awareness for everyone, and I think what we really need to understand is that these diseases do not belong to any particular individual [or] any particular group," he said.
"Anyone who has unprotected sex is at risk of these diseases."
In response to these latest numbers, Yetman said the committee may relaunch or add to its existing campaign, urging people to have protected sex.