The Department of Health Services released a report stating that syphilis cases in L.A. County rose 40 percent last year, up from 2004. Two-thirds of the new cases were among men who sleep with other men. Among these men, 45 percent were white, while women who contracted syphilis were 45 percent black and 42 percent Latin. There was a 56 percent reported increase of syphilis cases among women since 2004.

Syphilis is a serious and devastating illness which can contribute to the spread of AIDS and can be treated with antibiotics. The STD can lead to blindness, brain damage, and even death if untreated. Dr. Kerndt, the director of the Los Angeles County Sexually Transmitted Disease Program, says that there are several reasons for the increased number of reported cases of syphilis; one is people are increasingly making sexual contacts through the Internet as well as methamphetamine use and unprotected sex.

Kerndt says that increased testing and screening in Men’s Central Jail has helped them to discover cases of syphilis, which may have gone unreported. The STD program determined that 25 percent of those infected with syphilis also carried the HIV virus.