Birmingham syphilis epidemic part of trend, CDC reports - Breaking News from The Birmingham News - al.com

"The Birmingham area is making headway against its syphilis epidemic, and it appears that local public health officials recognized and responded early to a trend now sweeping the Southeast, according to an article released today by the Centers for Disease Control.

'Nobody's delighted that we have syphilis, but I think we're proud that we recognized it, we're on top of it and we're making substantial progress,'' said Dr. Edward W. Hook of UAB's division of infectious diseases and author of the CDC report. 'As a result, I think we're in better shape here than in some of our neighboring states.''"