Syphilis cases
are rising in southwestern Pennsylvania

Health officials in Allegheny County, Pa., home to Pittsburgh, report that new syphilis cases are rising throughout the county so rapidly so far this year that 2005 is shaping up to be the worst year for the sexually transmitted disease in more than a decade, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. During the first six months of this year, 36 new cases were reported, compared with only 24 for all of last year. Of the newly reported cases this year, one-third were among gay and bisexual men. If the trend continues, the county will record 70 or more cases of the STD this year, warns Bruce Dixon, director of the Allegheny County health department. He adds that gonorrhea and chlamydia cases also are rising in the county: More than 700 people have been diagnosed with gonorrhea so far this year, an increase of 32% over the same period in 2004, and 2,104 new cases of chlamydia have been reported, an increase of 24% over last year's level.