Syphilis Almost Epidemic in China

Syphilis, a former major health problem eradicated in China between by Mao between 1960 and 1980, is back and reaching epidemic proportions.

The most alarming problem is the rise in congenital syphilis, which occurs when an infected mother passes the disease to her unborn child, said researchers this week.

In 1991, the incidence of congenital syphilis was 0.01 cases per 100,000 live births. It was 19.68 cases per 100,000 in 2005 — an average yearly rise of 71.9 percent.

The authors said that social changes, including the re-emergence of prostitution, have contributed to the problem, which is heightened by the lack of natural immunity in China’s young people because of the 20-year eradication of the disease.

The researchers found that the total incidence of syphilis in China increased from less than 0.2 cases per 100,000 people in 1993 to 6.5 cases per 100,000 in 1999.

The research was a joint effort by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Center for STD Control in Nanjing, China.