Syphilis Outbreak Among Gay Men Said to Be Fading

Los Angeles County public health officials announced Wednesday that an outbreak of syphilis primarily among gay men appears to be subsiding.

Dr. James Haughton, medical director of public health for Los Angeles County, said that despite increased surveillance and testing, just one new case of syphilis has been reported in the last six weeks.

“We are hoping the outbreak has peaked and is waning now,” he said.

Since March, the tally of reported cases climbed to 93, most of them among gay men in Hollywood, West Hollywood and Silver Lake. Ten cases were reported among gay inmates in the county jail.

Los Angeles County typically has only about 100 cases a year, almost entirely among heterosexual men and women.

The outbreak raised alarm because it suggested that the “safe sex” message was not getting through to an increasing subgroup of gay men, or was being shrugged off. Syphilis, though easily treatable when caught in its early stages, is considered a good indicator of the level of risk that a population is willing to hazard in its sexual practices.

In addition, syphilis enhances the risk of both spreading and acquiring the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS--making containment of the outbreak all the more imperative. In fact, more than half the people infected with syphilis in the Los Angeles County outbreak also were HIV-positive.

In April, when the outbreak reached 52 cases, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.5-million emergency campaign to combat the disease and promote safe sex and aggressive condom distribution. At the time, some advocates criticized the county for not moving quickly enough.

Haughton said Wednesday that he believes the campaign--and the cooperation of bar owners, bathhouse operators and community groups--worked.

“People are changing their behavior, or otherwise these numbers would have continued to increase,” he said.

Haughton said the county is still sending out a van on weekends to offer testing in gay bars, clubs and other venues. A van will be dispatched to the gay pride festival this weekend at West Hollywood Park.