Gay men fuel rise
in New Zealand syphilis cases

The rate of newly diagnosed syphilis cases is on the rise in New Zealand, with gay and bisexual men accounting for nearly three quarters of the new infections, health officials in the country announced this week, reports Agence France-Presse. Jane MacDonald, director of the Wellington Sexual Health Service, says the number of syphilis cases her clinic has seen during the past two years is four times the number of cases in all of the past 20 years combined. The Auckland Sexual Health Service says it recorded 40 new cases between January 2002 and September 2004, 74% of which were diagnosed among gay and bisexual men. A full report on the rise of syphilis infections in New Zealand appears in the current issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal. (The Advocate)