Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Guardian (Charlottetown) (12.22.03) - Monday, December 22, 2003
Reported syphilis cases in British Columbia - almost all of which are in downtown Vancouver - have risen to 250 so far in 2003 from 16 cases in 1993. Since the outbreak took hold in 1998, the majority of cases have been sex workers and their clients.
Dr. Michael Rekart, director of STD control for the B.C. Centre for Disease Control is concerned the outbreak could hit the gay community next. This year, 72 gay or bisexual men were diagnosed with syphilis, up from 30 in 2002. "Rates of HIV, gonorrhea and hepatitis have been going up in the gay community as well, suggesting people aren't using condoms. It's setting the stage for a much larger syphilis outbreak," said Rekart.
Innovative methods to curb syphilis have failed and sometimes made the situation worse. The city did a massive antibiotic blitz, handing out pills to people whether they had syphilis or not. However, the infection rate roared back worse than ever, suggesting people thought they were immunized, said Patricia Daly, health officer for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.
Rekart is working with Health Canada to develop a contact- tracing computer program. "In a few months, we hope to be able to put it on a Palm Pilot so when the nurses are out on the street and someone with the infection tells them the name of a partner, they can type it into the database and all their partners will pop up. In many cases, it would then be as easy as walking across the street and giving that person antibiotics instead of having to go back to the office and look at all the hand drawn maps we have," he said.
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