october 19, 1999
Maricopa syphilis rate No. 5 in U.S.
The Associated Press
MESA - An age-old disease that has been nearly eradicated in most states, syphilis is making a comeback in Maricopa County, The Tribune reported today.
More than 364 cases we reported in the county in 1998, giving it the fifth-largest caseload in the nation, according to The Tribune, a newspaper serving suburban Phoenix.
So far this year, more than 340 people in the Phoenix metropolitan area have been infected with syphilis.
Syphilis appears in three stages with symptoms that look like, many other ailments. Painless sores on genitalia, the face, hands, or breasts come first, then go away. Next is a rash somewhere on the body, which also goes away.
Finally, over a period that can last decades, the disease attacks the brain, heart or other organs. Although not usually fatal, untreated syphilis can cause dementia and organ failure.
A series of penicillin injections cures syphilis. But first, people need to know they have the disease.
"Most people figure if the symptoms go away, I must be better," said Dr. James Eimer, director of clinical services for the county's department of public health. "It will eventually go to the next stage, and you have to be on medication."
The hard part is finding the people who are infected.
More than 230 people who contracted syphilis this year either can't or won't name the people they've had' sex with, said Tom Mickey, a supervisor county's sexually transmitted disease program.
Anonymous sex makes tracking syphilis a nightmare, investigators say.
Sometimes they have a first name or a tip on where the anonymous partner lives 'or hangs out. But too often, there's simply not enough information to go on. So far this year, investigators have been unable to trace 550 unknown sex partners.
"When they say anonymous sex, quite often it's because they don't want to admit they had sex with a prostitute," said Mickey.