Lane County: Public Health Officials Have Warned of a Syphilis Outbreak
After being at a historic low since the 2010s, Syphilis cases are now reportedly risen again. As reported by some of health officials, after a long decade, the trend of syphilis really took off once again in 2020, in lieu of and at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the outbreak in 2020, over the two years, Lane County has now reported 492 new cases of syphilis : with the number being 163 in 2021 and over 300 in 2022. Between the two years, 2021 and 2022, Lane County has seen about 102% rise in the cases. A 14% rise in the rest of Oregon. Although, on the bright side, there has not been any spike in other STIs like gonorrhea and chlamydia. One of Lane County’s leading experts, Dr. Lisandra Perez Guzman has said that the health department has been very worried with the numbers that are showing up. She further said that the exact cause of increase in the cases is not known at this time. The health department of Lane County is working with a team of epidemiologists who are l...