Facts, Information, And Symptoms For the STD Syphilis | The Frisky

"Syphilis is a mighty morphing STD that is hard to detect. Its symptoms don’t occur in a consistent order, but experts have narrowed them down to four stages. The primary stage is when a firm sore, called a chancre, appears around your lady parts. You can get one firm sore or many love bumps. They may dry out and heal, but you’re still stuck with the infection. The second stage includes on-and-off rash, fever, fatigue, aching, and sore throat. The third stage is the hidden stage, when symptoms don’t appear for years, as this STD attacks and progresses."

Health agencies going online to battle syphilis and AIDS - MontereyHerald.com :

"As life moves to the Internet, a growing number of public health agencies are signing on to social networking sites — not to find friends, but to fight syphilis, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Public agencies in Ohio are among the latest to open accounts on online meeting sites in an effort to reach people who may have a sexually transmitted disease and need medical care.

Cleveland's health department opened accounts on two sites this week, and Cincinnati has plans to start an online effort in a couple of months. Columbus Public Health established a presence a year ago on Manhunt, a social networking site for gay men, and has since added other popular sites."

New York Urges STDS Prevention, Early Detection, Sexual Health

"Preliminary data indicates that cases of early syphilis and chlamydia increased in New York State in 2008 compared with the previous year, prompting State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., to issue a call for greater prevention and screening.

'Every day, an estimated 125 teenagers and young adults in New York State are diagnosed with chlamydia and 25 are diagnosed with gonorrhea,' said Commissioner Daines. 'National STD Awareness Month is a good time to remind New Yorkers that prevention and early detection are the best defenses against sexually transmitted disease (STDs).'"

In outbreak, syphilis cases see increase in Oklahoma | NewsOK.com

"Four more cases of syphilis among young people have been reported to the state Health Department, and three are related to an outbreak linked to teen group sex parties.

The outbreak was reported three weeks ago after 10 teen cases were confirmed within a month. Officials now believe 13 cases this year are linked.

'They have connections to each other,” said Jan Fox, the Health Department’s chief of sexual transmitted disease services. 'Some reported group sex parties.”

The cases are among males and females ages 14 to 20 in multiple central Oklahoma counties."

Make No Mistake - Syphilis Can Be Serious

"Make No Mistake - Syphilis Can Be Serious
Thursday April 2, 2009
Sexually transmitted diseases are found throughout the world, both in the modern world and in third world countries. One such STD is syphilis. Often without symptoms, syphilis can cause a variety of symptoms and if left untreated can even be fatal. Take a Look at this Syphilis Guide from the Men's Health site at About.com."

Fighting STDs through social networking

"Health officials in Cleveland plan to use Facebook and other social networking Web sites to track down people possibly exposed to HIV or syphilis.

The city's health department will set up profiles on two popular gay meeting sites next week and plans to log on to Facebook later.

The profiles will allow the department to communicate with other users on the sites whose real names may not be known by their sexual partners."

Rise in syphilis cases has Genesee County health officials concerned - 3/29/09 - Flint News and Saginaw News - abc12.com

Genesee County health officials are seeing an outbreak of syphilis across the area, with more than 100 new cases reported last year alone.

The problem is startling and the numbers are soaring. The health department started noticing a rise in the number of cases about a year ago.

'Many people are not aware that it is still out there,' said Mark Valacak of the Genesee County Health Department. 'If you are sexually active, you are at risk for this disease.'"

Teenage Syphilis outbreak - KFOR

The Oklahoma State Health Department has identified an outbreak of syphilis that is spreading among teenagers younger than 18 years of age. Syphilis is a bacterial infection; primarily spread through sexual contact and it can be deadly.

For all of 2008, there were just 15 reported cases of syphilis in teenagers younger than 18, but in the last four weeks, there have already been 10 cases reported.

The State Health Department's Jan Fox, who is the chief of HIV/STD Service, says parents should talk to their kids about their sexual activity because many of them don't know they're infected."