Syphilis cases rising in Victoria, prompting urgent health alert

A state has recorded a worrying rise in a sexually transmitted infection, prompting authorities to issue a warning about getting tested. 

A portable testing kit for on-the-spot syphilis testing at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre. Picture: AAP/Raoul Wegat

Victoria’s chief health officer has issued an urgent health warning amid a spike in Syphilis cases.

The state reported 1444 cases last year and 1676 in 2019 – a significant increase from the 635 cases reported in 2014.

Mr Sutton said the majority of notified cases were in women of reproductive age, with the potential for the condition to occur in pregnancy.

Victoria recorded 1444 cases last year. Picture: Brett McWaters

Syphilis is transmitted through sexual contact or from a mother to a baby during pregnancy, when it is known as congenital syphilis.

The STI can be particularly worrying for pregnant women as it can lead to a stillbirth.

Those pregnant women most at risk include those who have more than one sexual partner, female partners of men who have sex with men, sex workers who do not get regularly tested for sexually transmissible diseases, people who use or inject drugs, those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, those with overseas sexual contacts, and women presenting with any other sexually transmissible infection during pregnancy.

Pregnant women should get tested for the infection in the first trimester, when showing symptoms and then at 28 and 32-week mark.

Babies who have congenital syphilis could have low birth weight and be at risk of premature birth.

Symptoms may often be unclear and can appear by the age of two months and include blood, brain, bones, organ enlargement, and skin lesions.

Pregnant women are being urged to get tested for the STI during the first trimester of pregnancy.