STI clinics in Ireland are seeing "way more" cases of syphilis than usual, including an unusual rise in cases among young women.
A national outbreak of syphilis has been declared in Ireland, with the number of cases now above what was seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health officials are also warning there's likely 'a large reservoir' of cases that have gone undiagnosed, due to services operating at a reduced capacity.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Dr Aisling Loy - Consultant in Genito-Urinary Medicine in the GUIDE clinic at St James’s Hospital - said doctors "at the coalface" noticed a definite rise in cases before an outbreak was officially declared.
She explained: "We went to public health… and said we’re seeing way more than we’re used to seeing. We were seeing a rise in young females especially, which would be unusual for syphilis.
“Then there’s been a decrease in services, unfortunately, because of COVID. We’d normally have a walk-in clinic where anyone can come and get screened… but now it’s very much curtailed with a booking system and triage system.
“We’re really mostly prioritising people who are symptomatic - but unfortunately for a lot of STIs, including syphilis, people don’t have symptoms. They’re spreading it without being screened.
“People think syphilis is something from bygone years… but it’s actually very, very prevalent and alive. In the sexual health [sector], we’re seeing a lot of it."
Symptoms
Syphilis is a very infectious condition, although Dr Loy noted that most people don't actually have symptoms.
Other infected people may have a temporary rash or ulcer that quickly pass, or other 'benign' symptoms.
However, the infection can spread to other parts of the body and cause serious problems - with syphilis only diagnosed after a patient has presented to the likes of an eye or hearing specialist.
It can also pass from a pregnant woman to their child, potentially causing serious harm or even stillbirths.
Dr Loy said that's one of the reasons why there's such concern about the increasing number of cases detected in women.
She explained: “Normally about 90% of the infections would be in men. About 60% of those are in men who have sex with men.
"But we’ve seen an upswing from about 4% to 9% in young women.”
Many people with symptoms of syphilis may be embarrassed to come forward for testing - but Dr Loy is reassuring people there's no reason to be worried.
She said: "All I can say is to reassure people this is what we do day in, day out. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before - we realise people have sex, and we’re not shocked people have sex.
“If you’ve had unusual symptoms - rashes, little lesions on the genital area… any flu-like illness, hair loss, swollen lymph nodes… it’s all very non-specific, but if you can link those to a new sexual partner… you should get screened."
Free, confidential STI home testing is currently also available to people in counties Dublin, Cork, Kerry Kildare and Wicklow as part of a pilot project that has now been extended until August.
People can visit SH24.ie and order a test, which they can then take themselves and post back.
