MANGO!
12-21-2007, 05:41 PM
Risky sex returns syphilis to Europe
news.yahoo.com (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_on_he_me/europe_syphilis)
Syphilis is back: The sexually transmitted disease long associated with 19th Century bohemian life is making an alarming resurgence in Europe. "Syphilis used to be a very rare disease," said Dr. Marita van de Laar, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "I'm not sure we can say that anymore." Most cases of syphilis are in men, and experts point to more risky sex among gay men as the chief cause for the resurgence.
Advances made in treating AIDS may have inadvertently boosted syphilis' spread. "The evidence points to an increase in unsafe sexual behavior since anti-retrovirals for AIDS came along in 1996," said van de Laar. After decades of being instructed to use condoms and to limit the number of sexual partners, some people are probably suffering from "safe sex fatigue," van de Laar said. The Internet has also allowed people to find sexual partners more easily than before, and some experts link the rise of dating Web sites to the jump in syphilis cases.
For some men, the Internet connections can be especially dangerous. "Networks of HIV-positive men to find other positive men have sprung up on the Internet," said Jonathan Elford, an AIDS epidemiologist at London's City University. Some men who have the AIDS virus are seeking condom-free sex with other men who are also HIV-infected. However, they aren't protected against syphilis and other sexually spread diseases. Among gay men who have syphilis in Britain, nearly half have HIV, Elford said.
news.yahoo.com (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_on_he_me/europe_syphilis)
Syphilis is back: The sexually transmitted disease long associated with 19th Century bohemian life is making an alarming resurgence in Europe. "Syphilis used to be a very rare disease," said Dr. Marita van de Laar, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "I'm not sure we can say that anymore." Most cases of syphilis are in men, and experts point to more risky sex among gay men as the chief cause for the resurgence.
Advances made in treating AIDS may have inadvertently boosted syphilis' spread. "The evidence points to an increase in unsafe sexual behavior since anti-retrovirals for AIDS came along in 1996," said van de Laar. After decades of being instructed to use condoms and to limit the number of sexual partners, some people are probably suffering from "safe sex fatigue," van de Laar said. The Internet has also allowed people to find sexual partners more easily than before, and some experts link the rise of dating Web sites to the jump in syphilis cases.
For some men, the Internet connections can be especially dangerous. "Networks of HIV-positive men to find other positive men have sprung up on the Internet," said Jonathan Elford, an AIDS epidemiologist at London's City University. Some men who have the AIDS virus are seeking condom-free sex with other men who are also HIV-infected. However, they aren't protected against syphilis and other sexually spread diseases. Among gay men who have syphilis in Britain, nearly half have HIV, Elford said.