The number of confirmed cases of syphilis in Labrador has risen to 69.
NL Health Services first raised awareness about an outbreak of the sexually-transmitted bacterial infection in the region last September.
Of the 69 confirmed cases to date, half are males and 18 per cent involve pregnant women. There were only 16 confirmed cases in the previous 10 years.
Medical Officer of Health with NL Health Services Dr. Nazlee Ogunyemi says if left untreated, syphilis can lead to serious damage to the brain, heart and skin.
(Via NL Health Services)
“It’s known as the great imitator,” says Ogunyemi, “so it can have a variety of symptoms, or it can have none at all. You can have syphilis and be completely asymptomatic and not know it, and it never goes away without treatment.
“Even when symptoms subside, it’s still there and it can cause severe disease.”
The illness can also be passed on through sexual contact even when there are no symptoms present. The only way to know for sure if you have it, is to get tested.
A walk-in testing clinic will be set up on Saturday, February 15th from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the outpatient department of the hospital in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
