Bendigo health: Syphilis outbreak as STI rates double across Victoria

A regional Victorian town has raised the alarm as syphilis rates reach historic high, particularly among bisexual men.

A spike in syphilis rates among Bendigo’s bisexual community has mirrored a Victorian-wide outbreak in the sexually transmitted infection.

Bendigo Community Health Service raised the alarm as syphilis rates almost tripled, with members of the region’s bisexual community particularly at risk.

Mary-Anne McCluskey said the syphilis rate in Bendigo was the worst she had seen in all her years as a sexual health nurse.

Ms McCluskey said the numbers had been on an incline for years, but there had been a jump since January.

A Department of Health spokesman said there were 375 infectious syphilis cases notified to the Department of Health from January 1 to April 5, 2021.

Last month chief health officer Brett Sutton warned of an “upsurge” in the sexually transmitted disease across Victoria.

Mr Sutton said over six years the number of notified cases of infectious syphilis had increased by over 160 per cent, from 635 cases in 2014 to 1676 cases in 2019.

While there was a decrease in 2020 to 1444 cases, Mr Sutton said this could be a result of reduced testing during the pandemic.

Ms McCluskey said compared to other sexually transmitted infections syphilis rates were historically low, which had created low public awareness.

“In days gone by people believed syphilis didn’t even exist,” she said.

But Ms McCluskey said for 10-years health experts had watched an outbreak, which started in Northern Queensland in 2011, steadily move across Australia.

She said the difficulty was detecting the infection in its early stages, as symptoms could be mild, some experiencing only small non-painful sores or a rash that could disappear.

But she said if left untreated the infection could had horrific impacts, including neurological problems, impacts on eyesight and brain damage.

Ms McCluskey said pregnant woman could develop congenital syphilis with “catastrophic” results, including miscarriages, stillbirths, premature births and low birth weights.

Newborns could also suffer from blood, brain, bones, organ enlargement, and skin lesions.

Mr Sutton said congenital syphilis was a “re-emerging” problem, with 10 cases since 2017.

Ms McCluskey said the latest Bendigo outbreak was concentrated in the bisexual community, particularly among men.

She said the use of PrEP, a drug to prevent the transmission of HIV, may be a contributing to the syphilis outbreak among the community.

“Historically the biggest fear was HIV so there was more condom use to avoid it,” Ms McCluskey said.

“Men taking PrEP may not be using condoms as they’re not as worried about other STIs.

“(And) if someone is bisexual it’s not going to take long for use to start seeing women testing positive.”

Ms McCluskey said syphilis was treatable, particularly if it was found early and called for people to practice safe sex and get tested regularly.

“It’s about keeping themselves safe and their partners safe,” she said.