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Syphilis outbreak in Iqaluit Chief medical officer calls out for Nunavummiut to get checked for easily-treated but deadly infectionTim Edwards Northern News Services Published Monday, Sept 10, 2012
"For us in Nunavut, it's an outbreak," said Dr. Geraldine Osborne. Last year, there were five reported cases. The year before that, there were none. Syphilis is a sexually-transmitted infection (STI) which can be contracted through unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex. It can also be passed from a mother to her baby while the infant is in the womb, which can cause death of the fetus or severe birth defects. Its symptoms vary, but often begin with a painless sore which usually appears three to 90 days after the disease is contacted. The sore can heal without treatment, but the infection remains. The secondary stage, which can occur two weeks to six months after initial symptoms, usually involves a rash, often on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. The disease can then lay latent for as long as 20 years, but the bacteria still spreads throughout the body, and the disease's third stage turns deadly - organ damage, including that of the heart and brain, leads to death. Symptoms can also mimic other diseases, such as the flu. The disease, caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum, is easily cured if caught, however, with a simple antibiotic treatment. Osborne said the STI's pattern of transmission in Iqaluit has been largely the same as in the rest of other parts of Canada and other countries. "In the last 10 years, syphilis has re-emerged in the U.S., Europe and southern Canada," said Osborne. "Generally, it starts in urban areas, particularly in high-risk groups such as man who have sex with men. Then it moves into the heterosexual population. "It seems to be following the same pattern (here)." According to the Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control in Ottawa, a number of STIs have been on a dramatic rise since 1997. In 2009, the centre reported syphilis rates had risen in Canada by 782.1 per cent, to an average of 1,683 cases per 100,000 people from 174 per 100,000. Osborne said the biggest risk factor in Nunavut for contracting the disease, and other STIs, is, of course, unprotected sex. Once a case arises, Osborne said tracing the disease through partners a person may have slept with can prove difficult, and she said it's likely there are more unreported cases within the city. "Occasionally, people will find this quite difficult because they've used drugs or alcohol and cannot identify all their partners, so this can be quite challenging." Once an infected person is identified, it's vital, Osborne said, that the person is vigilant in not only helping identify his or her past partners, but in following their treatment through to the end. The antibiotic treatment usually lasts around two weeks. "In order to control this outbreak and eliminate syphilis in Nunavut, we depend on people being forthcoming if they have symptoms of syphilis or if they have the infection to come forward for testing and treatment, and they have to be forthcoming about their partners so that we can do good contact-tracing," said Osborne. She said the age range for cases in the capital is from 20 to 48, and the cases mainly crop up in those who have had sex with multiple partners. "For syphilis in particular, the best way of preventing syphilis is to have one partner that you know doesn't have the infection," said Osborne. "The next best way is using condoms consistently and properly." The Department of Health and Social Services is circulating posters warning of syphilis throughout the city, particularly at all the bars. Osborne also said the GN is developing a sexual health education framework, mainly geared at high school students, of which more information will be released this fall.
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