THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080274
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
State health authorities say syphilis outbreaks in Suffolk and Newport News have waned.
And they hope that these outbreaks, unlike some, won't lead to a future increase in AIDS cases.
``Over the past couple of months, we've been seeing a slowdown. We'll probably see (the numbers) go back down,'' said H. Paul Brumund, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health.
An increase in syphilis cases first appeared in Newport News, peaking around August 1993. There were 243 new cases of early syphilis in 1993, more than three times the number of cases reported the previous year. From January to August of this year, 149 early cases of the sexually transmitted disease were reported.
Later, officials noticed a surge of new cases in Suffolk, peaking around June. From January to August of this year, 126 cases were reported, more than twice as many as for all of 1993.
Brumund said officials don't know whether the two outbreaks are linked.
``That's a real good question. No one can say why there was an increase (in Suffolk),'' he said.
Health officials even looked at traffic patterns to see whether people were bringing the disease from one place to the other. They couldn't find a connection.
And the two outbreaks are different.
Suffolk's was traced to a group of people who hung out at a bar and restaurant. Newport News' was spread over a larger geographic area and involved a more varied group of people.
Outbreaks of syphilis can lead to greater numbers of AIDS cases, partly because bodily fluids infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can enter the body through open syphilis sores.
In Suffolk, however, most people with AIDS are gay men or users of intravenous drugs and were not among the group of syphilis victims, Brumund said.
Health officials didn't find any HIV when they tested the people with syphilis. However, HIV may not show up until six months after infection, so the tests aren't a guarantee that the people hadn't been infected with the virus, Brumund said.
The Newport News group included some IV drug users and some people infected with the AIDS virus.
``I don't think there'll be a dramatic increase'' in AIDS, Brumund said.
When the outbreaks were discovered, extra health workers were shifted to Newport News and Suffolk, Brumund said. They tracked down and tested partners of those infected, going door to door in some neighborhoods that had a high concentration of cases.
Syphillis can be cured in its early stages with one or two shots of a type of penicillin.
It first shows up as sores on the genitals or any other body part that came in contact with the sores of an infected person. This is when it's most infectious.
It's sometimes called the ``great mimicker'' because it can look like other diseases. A month or more after the sores disappear, the infected person may suffer from a rash, lesions on the face, genital warts, yeast patches in the mouth or vagina and hair loss.
A pregnant woman with syphilis may have a child with birth defects.
In its latest stages, which may take decades to develop, syphilis can cause blindness and mental illness.
Recently, Portsmouth health officials reported an increase in cases, although numbers there are slightly lower than in Suffolk.
Portsmouth officials said the outbreak there was fueled by drug addicts who trade sex for hard drugs.
KEYWORDS: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES SYPHILIS by CNB