Luzerne County hard hit by syphilis cases

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WILKES-BARRE — Syphilis, a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) that often does not present symptoms, is on the rise in Luzerne County and is appearing in alarming numbers among pregnant women.

The disease, which starts as a sore and spreads through direct contact, can be passed down to a baby during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

If contracted before birth, syphilis can cause an array of dangers to both the mother and child, including miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-maturity and death. Babies born with syphilis — also known as congenital syphilis — can experience deformed bones, severe anemia, jaundice, blindness and deafness, meningitis and more.

If left untreated, syphilis can damage the heart, brain or other organs and can become life-threatening to anyone who contracts it.

Kady McGlynn, Associate Director of Personal Health at the Wilkes-Barre Health Department, says the rising numbers of syphilis cases in Luzerne County — and especially Wilkes-Barre City — are cause for concern.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in syphilis cases, and whether that’s due to lack of testing or people not seeking healthcare during the pandemic, it’s definitely catching up with us locally,” McGlynn said.

As associate director of personal health, McGlynn oversees all communicable disease investigations within the city of Wilkes-Barre to ensure that safety protocols are put in place to prevent further spread of disease, including sexually transmitted infections (STI). According to her, the numbers just don’t lie.

“Last year, Luzerne County was the second highest county in the state for syphilis outside of Philadelphia, so those numbers are definitely here and we’re trying to figure out based on zip codes and populations why people aren’t getting tested or adequately treated,” McGlynn said.

Henry Radulski, Director of the Wilkes-Barre Health Department agrees: the cases are the worst they’ve ever been and they simply don’t need to be.

“I’ve been in public health since 1980 and this is the greatest spike in the number of congenital syphilis and syphilis in general that I have seen,” Radulski said.

“The key is that this is preventable. We don’t want this to happen, so let’s take whatever means necessary to prevent this from happening and take care of people who do have syphilis,” he added.

To combat the increased cases, McGlynn said the health department is prioritizing education in addition to their free STI clinic that tests for and treats syphilis and other STI’s.

Last October, the department worked with the state to send out letters to over 600 providers in the county to give them recommendations for testing, explain the signs and symptoms of syphilis and help them in the right direction to share free testing clinics in the state — but the work doesn’t stop there.

“We’re continuing to increase our education and outreach to providers and to the public so that everyone knows that syphilis is treatable and you just need to get tested and it can be cured with antibiotics. We just want to urge people who are pregnant or who plan to become pregnant to get that testing because lack of adequate testing and adequate treatment contributes to 90% of cases of newborn syphilis in the United States,” McGlynn said.

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SPECIAL REPORT

The Times Leader teamed up with Eyewitness News for this look at the rise of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Luzerne County. You can see their report at www.pahomepage.com.