A new document released by the Chicago Department of Public Health shows that approximately 14% of primary and secondary syphilis cases reported there between 2000 and 2002 were transmitted through oral sex. The findings are in the Oct. 22 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The report also reveals that about 20% of men who have sex with men–MSM–with syphilis in Chicago indicated only oral sex exposure; moreover, MSM were 3.8 and 3.4 times more likely than heterosexual men and women, respectively, to only report oral sex. Of the MSM exposed to syphilis through oral sex, 54% already were HIV-positive, 32% did not know their status, and 14% were HIV-negative.
According to the report’s authors, some men who engaged in only oral sex believed that they were practicing safe sex and were surprised when they received a syphilis diagnosis. These results underscore the need for educating sexually active persons regarding the risk for syphilis transmission through oral sex.
The possibility that syphilis might quicken the progression of HIV disease should provide a further motivation for MSM –especially those who are already HIV-positive, to avoid getting syphilis.
Call 404 639-8895.