Skip to main content

One in Four Young Sexual-, Gender-Minority Individuals May Experience Syphilis

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Nov 3, 2023.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Nov. 3, 2023 -- One-quarter of young sexual and gender minorities (YSGM) have syphilis at some point in their lives, according to a study published online Oct. 10 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Casey D. Xavier Hall, M.P.H., Ph.D., from Florida State University in Tallahassee, and colleagues examined syphilis incidence and prevalence prospectively among YSGM. The analysis included data from 882 YSGM assigned male at birth participating in a Chicago-based prospective cohort study with two visits six months apart.

The researchers found that 25.1 percent of participants had a lifetime prevalence of syphilis. In this sample, 3.3 percent were incident cases, with a crude incidence rate of 6.76 per 100 person-years. Higher lifetime incidence rates of syphilis were seen among transgender participants (45 percent) and Black participants (42 percent).

"Nationally, about half of all syphilis infections are among gay and bisexual men," lead author Brian Mustanski, Ph.D., from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a statement. "Beyond this worrying statistic, half of syphilis cases among these men occur in men living with HIV. Men who test HIV-negative who are diagnosed with syphilis then have an increased risk of getting HIV because syphilis facilitates HIV transmission."

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted November 2023

Read this next

Lesbian, Bisexual Women Face Premature Death Versus Heterosexual Women

TUESDAY, May 7, 2024 -- Female nurses identifying as lesbian or bisexual have markedly earlier mortality than heterosexual nurses, according to a study published online April 25...

Doctors Seeing More Atypical, Severe Symptoms in Patients With Syphilis

MONDAY, April 29, 2024 -- Physicians are increasingly seeing cases of syphilis that do not present with typical symptoms, such as rash or skin ulcers, according to a new report...

Evidence Lacking for Gender Dysphoria Treatments for Teens

FRIDAY, April 12, 2024 -- Evidence is lacking for use of puberty blockers and hormone treatment for gender dysphoria/incongruence, according to two systematic reviews published...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.