Health officials are continuing to manage a syphilis outbreak in central Labrador, and are urging people to get tested to prevent debilitating and irreversible health effects down the road.
There are currently 123 confirmed cases in the Labrador-Grenfell health zone, 46 per cent of which have been diagnosed in the primary stage. The average age of confirmed cases is 30, and just over half, or 54 per cent, are female.
Syphilis first presents as a painless sore and can be easily overlooked. At that stage the illness is highly infectious. Patients who don’t seek treatment can then experience typical flu-like symptoms including a rash and swollen glands which eventually pass.
The problem, says medical officer of health with NL Health Services, Dr. Nazlee Ogunyemi, is that syphilis that remains untreated can result in significant organ and neurological damage years, or even decades, later.
“And that can lead to serious problems in the brain, the heart, the skin.” Meanwhile neurosyphilis can develop at any time over the course of the disease. “That’s when the bacteria travel through the body and reaches the brain and spinal cord and can cause symptoms related to that.”
The good news is that the illness is easily treated if caught in the early stages.
A walk-in testing clinic for syphilis and other sexually transmitted, and blood-borne illnesses, will be available this Saturday, June 7 at the hospital in Goose Bay from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Patients can expect:
– A judgment-free, trauma-informed setting open to anyone who would like testing.
– Walk-in appointments with in-person providers.
– On-site blood collection.
– Information and harm reduction supplies will be available.
Individuals will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis. The public is reminded that regular testing can reduce impacts on your health and lower your chance of getting or passing on STBBIs.
