CITY SEES INCREASE IN SYPHILIS

The latest report on the battle against syphilis in Guilford County is not
good.

And that's not unexpected, either. Guilford is one of two North Carolina
counties ranked among the worst in the nation for rates of syphilis
infections, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported Thursday.

By Friday, the news was making the rounds among health professionals who
launched an education and prevention campaign against the disease in High
Point earlier this year.

Robeson County leads the country with 73 cases per 100,000 population in
2001, while Guilford County reported a rate of 16.6 cases per 100,000
population, the sixth highest in the country last year and unchanged from
the county's 2000 rate.

"We are working hard to stop syphilis, but it is hard," said Sam Parker,
director of Triad Health Project, a nonprofit health agency battling the
spread of all sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Nationally, the
rate of syphilis infection in 2001 was 2.1 cases per 100,000 people, a 2
percent increase from the previous year, according to the CDC. North
Carolina's rate remained higher than the national average at 5.7 cases per
100,000 people.

"It's hard to stop the spread when more people are still getting it,"
Parker said.

Health officials say the county's high rate is linked to the use of crack
cocaine, which is higher than the national average. The sex-for-drugs trade
also can contribute to increased infection rates.

"We are getting information out, but there are so many factors involved on
why the rate stays high," Parker said.

The number of county syphilis cases rose slightly in 2001 to 118, up from
113 in 2000. High Point had more of those cases than Greensboro. Within the
last year, Guilford County health agencies have sponsored health fairs in
an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of the sexually transmitted
disease.

Education programs are aimed at changing sexual behavior.

"This is a social crisis as well," Parker said.

The national goal is to stop the sexually transmitted disease by 2005.
Health officials formed a People Stopping Syphilis Today Task Force to
combat the disease by reaching out to neighborhoods with confidential testing.

Last year, health officials pumped $182,000 into the campaign, including
$50,000 in federal funds. The federal syphilis elimination project is
providing more than $15 million to problem areas nationwide.

The United States is the largest industrial country that has not eradicated
syphilis, according to the CDC.