Syphilis: Dramatic cases are increasing in Europe and Greece

It has begun to spread rapidly in Europe and Greece, with the proportion of cases rising by 34% over a year. The number of cases is much greater than before the coronavirus pandemic, in which they had been significantly reduced. More than 35,000 cases of syphilis were recorded in 2022 in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EU/EOX). In 2021 it was nearly 27,000 and in 2018 under 26,000 those who were suffering from the disease. The rates of men who are ill are obviously higher since they are eight times more (on average) than women. Syphilis is also diagnosed with a particularly increased frequency in young men between 25-34 years. Many patients aren’t men who have sex with men. These are brief findings of a new report by the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) on the progress of syphilis in Europe. As he reports, 35,391 new cases were recorded in 2022. This figure is 34% higher than that of 2021. He is also 41% higher than the 2018 counterpart. Most cases proportional to their population had in 2022: Malta (24.4 per 100,000 population) Luxembourg (23.4 per 100,000) Ireland and Spain (16.6 per 100,000 population each) Liechtenstein (15.3) Portugal (14.8) The least cases had Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Romania and Slovenia. All had under three cases per 100,000 population. Situation in Greece In our country, cases are also rapidly increasing. According to ECDC data, our country had 389 cases in 2018. In 2021 they reached 654 and in 2022 they were 864. In other words, they increased: By 32% between 2021 and 2022 By 122% between 2018 and 2022 Therefore, in 2022 we had 8.3 cases per 100,000 population versus : 6.1 per 100,000 in 2021 3.6 per 100,000 in 2018 Men suffer in Greece are 15 times as many as women. The 15:1 ratio brings us to the five highest positions in Europe in gender difference. The Netherlands, Norway, Germany and Ireland are the lead. Relatively many cases in women (over 3 per 100,000) have Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain. Overall in the EU/EEA were diagnosed with syphilis in 2022: 31.217 men (proportional 15.3 cases per 100,000 men) 3,945 women (proportional 1.9 cases per 100,000 women) As for the mode of transmission, 59% were through sexual contact between men and men. At 21% it was with heterosexual transmission. The remaining 20% did not record the mode of transmission. In our country, at least 75% of cases involved men who had sex contacts with men. Source: iatropedia.gr