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| Date Archive : 3/18/2008 |
| Date Enter; : 3/18/2008 |
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Hour Enter : 1:03:23 PM |
| Resource : Reuters |
| Summery : Syphilis is making a comeback in developed countries, spurred by illicit drug use and high-risk sexual behaviors, and many doctors are unprepared to recognize and treat it, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
They said syphilis has been on the rise since the beginning of the 21st century in high-income countries, but because the disease had been well controlled in the 1990s, doctors may not be screening for it. |
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"The key message here is that syphilis is again on the rise in several developing countries. In many of these countries we are seeing very high rates in men who have sex with men," said Dr. Kevin Fenton of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose study appears in the journal Lancet.
Fenton said the resurgence demands new training efforts among health-care professionals. "In many countries, physicians may have lost some of the skill sets associated with diagnosing syphilis," Fenton said in a telephone interview.
The CDC last week said the U.S. syphilis rate rose once again in 2007, marking the seventh consecutive year of increases. Homosexual and bisexual men accounted for 64 percent of syphilis cases in 2007, up from about 5 percent in 1999.
Read more at : http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080317/hl_nm/syphillis_resurgence_dc;_ylt=Akwg3DJZm7nrwT.x1urB614Q.3QA
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