THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 23, 1994 TAG: 9409210136
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUDY PARKER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
The number of individuals in Portsmouth affected with syphilis is rising at an alarming rate, says Judy Smith, supervisor of the city's Health Department's epidemiology program.
Mathematically, if the number of new cases continues to average 15 during each of the four remaining months of the year, as the numbers have since January, the total of individuals affected with the disease will double all of those treated during 1993.
Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, ``we've treated 122 cases of early stage, infectious syphilis,'' Smith said. ``In 1993, the total was 89.''
A possible explanation for the increase is the number of crack cocaine addicts in the city, Smith said.
``Many of the people we see are drug abusers who exchange sex for drugs,'' Smith said. ``There's also an attitude with a lot of young people, that `It can't happen to me!' but it does.''
According to Detective K. M. Armstrong of the Portsmouth Police Department's Narcotics Unit, it's difficult to estimate just how many crack cocaine addicts there are in the city.
``Let me put it this way, I haven't seen a decrease in crack cocaine, and it is the most widely used street drug in the city.''
Because there seems to be a link between illegal drug use and the high incidence of syphilis, tracking down those infected with the disease and getting them in for treatment, one of Smith's primary responsibilities, is difficult and frustrating.
``We ask our patients to be candid and give us the names of everyone they've been intimate with. But sometimes that's not possible, because so many of these people don't know the names of their sexual partners,'' Smith said.
``But we do everything we can to try and find everyone that individual has had sexual contact with so we can provide adequate treatment, and, hopefully, keep others from becoming infected,'' Smith said.
``Unfortunately, many, although not all, of the people we treat are dealing in illegal behaviors, like drug dealing and prostitution, they don't want to cooperate because they think we'll turn them over to the police. We assure them that we have nothing to do with the police. We just want to treat a disease.''
While syphilis can be a killer, it is curable if caught early. A blood disease, syphilis has four main stages: primary, secondary, latent and late.
Symptoms of primary syphilis generally occur within three weeks of infection when a small sore, or chancre, appears at the location, most often the genitals, where the germ entered the body.
Anywhere from six weeks to six months later, during the secondary stage, the affected individual might develop a rash and fever. Because of the location of the infection, the rash might not be noticed, and after several more weeks all symptoms disappear.
A blood test is the only way to detect syphilis during the latent stage, and although it can take 10 to 30 years for late syphilis to develop, the intervening effects can be devastating to the individual, including the potential for blindness, mental illness and paralysis. Left untreated, a premature death is likely.
During the first three stages of the disease, syphilis can be cured with two inoculations of bicillin LA, a form of penicillin.
Syphilis can be contracted by anyone engaging in sexual intercourse, but it's especially tragic when it is passed on by an infected pregnant woman to her unborn fetus.
``In females, it's really hard to detect syphilis in its earliest stage,'' Smith said, ``because it's painless and not visible, as it is with males.
``However, if a woman is pregnant or becomes pregnant and contracts the disease, and treatment is made available 30 days prior to birth, there's a good chance the disease will not be transmitted to the baby,'' Smith said.
Two Portsmouth babies were born with congenital syphilis during the first six months of 1994, said Richard Nixon, a statistician with the state Health Department.
``Because of the lag time between a woman becoming pregnant and giving birth, I expect those numbers to skyrocket for babies who will be born in 1995,'' Nixon said.
There were no congenital syphilis births in Portsmouth in 1993.
Of the 122 syphilis cases reported in Portsmouth this year, 58 males and 64 females have become infected.
``There seems to be a trend developing as more and more women are becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases,'' Smith said.
According to Smith, the current average age of male syphilis victims in the city is 36. The oldest male treated so far in 1994 is 80, the youngest 15. For females, the average age is 29, with the oldest being 65, the youngest 13.
Because the city's Health Department considers anyone 12 years of age and older who contracts a sexually transmitted disease to be an adult, the department is not required to inform parents that their children are infected with syphilis.
African Americans account for 118 of the 122 reported cases. Caucasians account for the remaining four cases.
Based on addresses provided by the Health Department, the majority of those affected this year live in the lower-income pockets of the city; put another way, the same areas experiencing high levels of crime.
While it seems there will be a significant increase between 1993 and 1994 reported syphilis cases, since 1990, the number of infected residents has ranged from the low 70s to the low 90s. In 1989, however, only 33 cases were reported.
``I think we're just doing a better job of tracking these people down,'' Smith said. ``The harder we work, the more work we create.''
KEYWORDS: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE SYPHILIS by CNB