MONTGOMERY COUNTY — A sexually transmitted disease is spreading nationwide and cases are quickly rising in Montgomery County.
News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott sat down with health officials to see how the STD is also impacting our children.
The STD is easy to catch.
“We are at a 30-year high for cases of syphilis,” Becky Thomas, medical director of Public Health of Dayton and Montgomery County.
“I don’t know why people like passing diseases around, not using protection it’s just wrong,” Whitney Write of Dayton said.
Write might think it’s wrong but it appears nationally people don’t care.
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Data from the Centers for Disease Control shows from 2017 until 2021 cases have gradually been increasing.
The same goes for Montgomery County.
When looking at the past five years combined there were 56 cases.
But this year alone, more than 80, and those are just cases we know have been reported.
Men and women can both contract and spread the STD.
But pregnant women are passing Syphilis to their babies.
Which can lead to numerous health problems.
“Hearing loss, vision loss, bony abnormalities and developmental delays,” Thomas said.
Last year, the CDC said more than 3,700 babies in the United States had Sphyilis resulting in over 200 stillbirths and more than 50 deaths.
The STD can also be deadly for adults if not treated with medication.
“It goes through several states and can develop problems with most organ systems including the nervous system, the cardiac system. A lot of serious things can happen,” Thomas said.
That is why health professionals stress for people to use protection and get tested regularly.
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