Off the wire
• State Council appoints, removes officials  • 2nd LD Writethru: Airlift to evacuate tourists from New Zealand quake zone  • Growth in New Zealand services sector rebounds in October  • Austria could feel impact of Brexit via Germany: trade official  • Myanmar's nearly 170-year-old bridge to be renovated to promote tourism  • China, Peru sign 2 bln USD worth of purchasing agreements amid APEC fever  • Chinese yuan falls to near 8-year low  • Tokyo shares close mixed by break on gains lock-in  • Aussie scientists discover brain pathway responsible for salt addiction  • Argentine president calls Trump, congratulating him on his electoral win  
You are here: 　 Home

Brazil sees rise in syphilis cases

Xinhua, November 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Brazil has seen a rise in syphilis cases, including congenital syphilis, in the past few years, state news agency Agencia Brasil reported on Monday, quoting the latest Health Ministry report.

The Health Ministry report shows that the cases of acquired syphilis in adults rose 32.7 percent from 2014 to 2015. In pregnant women, syphilis cases rose 20.9 percent, and the cases of congenital syphilis, in which a pregnant woman passes the disease to her baby, rose 19 percent during the same period.

The ministry considers the rise in syphilis cases an epidemic. The report of all the three forms of syphilis -- the regular one, in pregnant women and in newborns -- is required, which helps the ministry track the advance of the disease.

Adele Benzaken, head of the ministry's Department for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, STDs and Viral Hepatitis, said that over the past five years, "syphilis was not at a level of eradication, but it was stable, and suddenly the number of cases increased."

Benzaken attributed the rise to a combination of factors, including a decrease in the use of condoms among younger Brazilians.

In order to tackle the rise in syphilis cases in Brazil, the ministry launched last month a campaign to raise awareness about the disease. Endi