Â鶹ŮÓÅ

The U.S. syphilis epidemic isn’t abating, with the rate of infectious cases rising 9% in 2022, according to a new federal government report on sexually transmitted diseases in adults. But there’s some unexpected good news: The rate of new gonorrhea cases fell for the first time in a decade. It’s not clear why infectious cases of syphilis rose 9% while gonorrhea dropped 9%, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, adding that it’s too soon to know whether a new downward trend is emerging for the latter. (Stobbe, 1/30)

The rates soared in every age group, including newborns. In November, the C.D.C. said more than 3,700 cases of congenital syphilis were reported in 2022, roughly 11 times the number recorded a decade ago. The disease caused 231 stillbirths and 51 infant deaths in 2022. Experts pointed to a slew of reasons for the continued increases in syphilis and other S.T.I.s. Substance use, which is tied to risky sexual behavior, has risen. With better prevention and treatment for H.I.V., condom use has fallen out of vogue — decreasing by about 8 percentage points between 2011 and 2021 among high school students, for example. (Mandavilli, 1/30)

But even when patients are identified, they currently face a hurdle to treatment. The best medicine for syphilis is penicillin G benzathine, which is sold by Pfizer Inc. in the US under the brand Bicillin L-A, and it’s been in short supply since April because of high demand. Pfizer has increased production and expects supply to normalize by June. The Food and Drug Administration also greenlit the importation of a version of penicillin G benzathine that’s approved in Europe but not the US. About 50,000 doses are available, said Pavel Svintozelskiy, medical affairs manager for Provepharm, a company involved in the importation. (Swetlitz, 1/30)

CDC said it is working to issue final guidance on using doxycycline, a commonly used antibiotic, for post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent bacterial STIs, which would be the first large-scale bacterial STI prevention innovation in decades. The Biden administration announced the first national multiagency plan to reduce climbing rates of STIs last year. (Raman and Hellmann, 1/30)