An increase in syphilis cases in Hawke's Bay has urged a nurse practitioner to encourage people in the region to get tested.
Lei Johnson, a nurse practitioner at Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand, Te Matau a Māui Hawke's Bay, said the organisation's sexual health service had 12 cases of infectious syphilis in the quarter ending June 30, 2022, compared with three cases in the same quarter in the previous year.
"This sexually transmitted infection (STI) most commonly affects men with male sexual contacts, however, our clinic has recently seen a rise in infectious syphilis among heterosexual men and women," Johnson said in a statement.
The nurse practitioner added there has been an increase in syphilis cases in people who are 15 to 25 years old, which are the years people are of reproductive age.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics. The symptoms include genital or mouth ulcers or rashes, but many syphilis patients are presenting to Te Whatu Ora Hawke's Bay clinics with no symptoms, which is why routine testing is key.
"People don't knowingly bring syphilis into a relationship, and the only way to know they have syphilis is through routine sexual health screening," Johnson said.
If syphilis is left untreated it can cause damage to vital organs and have potentially fatal complications for a baby exposed to it.
Johnson said using condoms helps limit the risk of infection.
"While using condoms won't completely prevent the spread of infectious syphilis (as skin-to-skin contact still occurs), they do minimise it, and are effective at preventing other harmful STIs."
The nurse practitioner encourages anyone who may have been exposed to visit a sexual health clinic or their general practitioner to get tested.
Johnson added it can take up to 90 days for someone to test positive or become symptomatic, so they offer treatment to everyone who has come in contact with an infected case as a precaution.
