The Tompkins County Health Department is alerting residents of a rise in syphilis cases in the county.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection which can be passed along to newborn infants via their parent. Last year (2021) Tompkins County reported 22 cases of syphilis over the course of the year; in the first 5 months of this year (2022) there are already 16 cases.
To protect yourself and others, the following strategies are recommended:
-Those at high-risk should test early and test often.
-If you are pregnant, request testing for syphilis if it is not automatically offered.
-If you test positive, share information about recent sexual partners with your healthcare provider to assist with contact tracing efforts to reduce the spread.
-If you test positive, it is important to begin treatment as soon as possible and follow your course of treatment to completion.
