The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

STD surge in Cincinnati hits Dayton region

Increase in syphilis cases already being seen in I-75 corridor.

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 8:04 AM Thursday, January 12, 2012

A dramatic increase in the number of syphilis cases in Cincinnati is having a ripple effect on the Dayton region.

The number of new syphilis cases in Hamilton County climbed to 420 in 2010 from just 36 in 2006. Occurrences in Montgomery County are also on the rise.

Public Health — Dayton and Montgomery County reported 70 cases in 2011, compared to 26 the year before. Interviews by disease-intervention specialists found a rising number of syphilis cases in Montgomery County originated in Cincinnati, according to Jim Gross, health commissioner for Public Health.

Hamilton County ranks third  in the nation for syphilis cases, when factoring in population, according to the Ohio Department of Health, despite efforts by the state to provide the Cincinnati Health Department with “a tremendous amount of technical support,” said Jen Keagy, the state’s STD prevention program manager.

The rate of syphilis in Cincinnati skyrocketed to 126.1 per 100,000 residents in 2010. Dayton’s rate for the same time period was 16.9 per 100,000 residents.

Butler and Warren counties — between Dayton and Cincinnati — also are finding cases that originated in the Cincinnati area, though their overall numbers remain low, Keagy said.

“We fear the problem is coming up Interstate 75 and we want to stop it,” Gross said. “We recognize their problem can quickly become our problem.”

Nearly 40 percent of all syphilis cases in Ohio in 2010 were reported in Cincinnati.

Montgomery County gets $740,000 grant

Public Health recently took over administration of a $740,000 grant to run Hamilton County’s HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease Program. Montgomery County applied for the grant after the Ohio Department of Health denied funding to the City of Cincinnati Health Department, which ran the program for all of Hamilton County since 1981.

Cincinnati is contesting scoring of its grant application by ODH that led to the funding loss and says data for 2011 will show that syphilis is actually on the decline there. Syphilis cases in Hamilton County began soaring in 2008 and remained high through 2010, according to the most recent available state data.

The disease has spread through all age groups from teens to 60-year-olds, predominately striking blacks, gay men and heterosexual women, Keagy said.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease often called “the great imitator” because many of its symptoms are indistinguishable from those of other diseases. A single injection of penicillin will cure a person who has had the disease for less than a year. Additional doses are needed to treat someone who has had syphilis longer. There are no home remedies or over-the-counter remedies to cure the disease.

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, at the request of ODH, also sent staff to assist Cincinnati for about six weeks in 2010, leaving a list of recommendations, Keagy said.

“With all of that outreach and all of that effort, we were not seeing great strides. We were at the point where we had to make a difficult decision to get fresh eyes looking at this,” said Will McHugh, the state’s Department of Health division of prevention chief. Montgomery County has shown leadership in the field with strong prevention programs, he added.

Montgomery County will keep up to 10 percent of the grant for its oversight of the program, act as fiscal manager, along with mentoring and coaching Hamilton County Public Health, which is taking over local program operations. No Montgomery County taxpayer dollars will be used on Hamilton County programs, Gross said.

“Montgomery County is taking administrative money from the grant before we get it. We’re benefiting from their experience,” said Mike Samet, public information officer for Hamilton County Public Health. “We’ll be the boots on the ground.”

There are five health departments in the Cincinnati region.

Rocky Merz, spokesman for the Cincinnati Health Department, said they’re pleased Montgomery County is involved, but believe the change is unnecessary. He said Hamilton County did see a spike in syphilis from 2008 to 2010, but those numbers fell by 10 percent in 2011.

Merz said the federal grant will flow from the Center for Disease Control to the Ohio Department of Health, to Public Health: Dayton and Montgomery County and finally to Hamilton County, with each agency absorbing off some of the funding for administrative costs.

Cincinnati also contests the failing mark, by one point, the department received on its grant application review.

“A review of the scoring sheets used by ODH reviewers proves sloppy and inconsistent scoring across the board,” Merz said.

Keagy said denying Cincinnati’s grant application was about more than its grant application score. Poor past performance also was factored into the decision to turn down the funding request, she said.

Montgomery County is not taking sides in the debate.

“We are not interested in sticking our noses in any fights between those entities,” Gross said. “I look at what we are doing the same as what any neighboring community would do in a disaster situation. Who knows, the next cry for help may be from Montgomery County.”

What is syphilis? It is a sexually transmitted disease caused by bacterium. It has often been called “the great imitator” because many of the signs and symptoms are indistinguishable from those of other diseases.

How do people get syphilis? It is passed from person to person through direct contact with a syphilis sore, mainly during sex. Sores occur primarily on external genitals. Pregnant women with the disease can pass it to babies they are carrying. Syphilis CANNOT be spread through contract with toilet seats, doorknobs, swimming pools, hot tubs, bathtubs, shared clothing or eating utensils.

Symptoms of adult syphilis

Many with syphilis do not show symptoms for years.

The primary stage of syphilis is usually marked by the appearance of a single sore. The time between infection and the start of the first symptom can range from 10 to 90 days. The sore is usually firm, round, small and painless. It appears at the spot where syphilis entered the body. The sore lasts three to six weeks and heals without treatment. However, if treatment is not administered, the infection progresses to the secondary stage.

Skin rash and lesions characterize the secondary stage. The rash — rough, red or reddish brown spots on palms of hands and the bottom of feet, along with other areas — does not itch. Sometimes rashes are so faint that they are not noticed. Other symptoms include fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, patchy hair loss, headaches, weight loss, muscle aches and fatigue. The symptoms will resolve with or without treatment, but without treatment, the infection will progress to the latent (hidden) and possibly late stages of the disease.

During the latent stage of syphilis, the infected person will continue to have the disease, even though there are no symptoms; infection remains in the body. The late stages of syphilis can develop in about 15 percent of people who have not been treated and can appear 10 to 20 years after infection. Signs and symptoms of late-stage syphilis include difficulty coordinating muscle movements, paralysis, numbness, gradual blindness and dementia. The damage may be serious enough to cause death.

Treatment of syphilis

A single injection of penicillin, an antibiotic, will cure a person who has had the disease for less than a year . Additional doses are need to treat someone who has had syphilis longer. There are no home remedies or over-the- counter remedies to cure syphilis.

Source: Ohio Department of Health

@@facebook=http://www.facebook.com/daytondailynews/posts/346859711992574@@

Share this article