Public health experts concerned about syphilis rise in Northeast Ohio

After reaching historic lows in the early 2000s, syphilis cases began to spike again over the past five years across the U.S., including in Ohio. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control showed cases nationally reached over 200,000 between 2018 and 2022. That's the highest it's been since the 1950s.

In Northeast Ohio, this is alarming public health officials who are most concerned about pregnant women and their infants.

Dr. Justin Yax is the director of the HIV/Syphilis Testing and Care Collaborative at University Hospitals and an emergency medicine physician.

He says if this disease is left untreated after physical symptoms during the first two phases are resolved, it enters what's called a latent phase, "So the bacteria will still be in your body but it won't show any outward manifestations. That can not be transmitted sexually, however, it can be transmitted to the fetus in pregnant women."

Today, we start the show with a look at Cuyahoga County where the syphilis case rate has risen by 174% over the last 5 years, that's double the rate of increase nationwide.

"There's a perception that if you go to the emergency room, everything will be taken care of, right. And so a pregnant woman thinks perhaps, maybe that, that would count as a prenatal appointment when in fact it's absolutely not. Emergency Room, it takes care of the emergency issue or the urgent issue," says Dr. Yax.

Later, preview Ideastream's new 24-7 JazzNEO streaming service launching on Monday, and we'll talk about the next stop on our "Sound of Ideas Community Tour" where we'll be talking about the history and current jazz scene at the Bop Stop in Cleveland.

To end the show, we bring you another episode of our music podcast, "Shuffle." This week, Amanda Rabinowitz talks to Cleveland R&B artist, Charity Evona who's making her Cleveland Brite Winter music festival debut this Saturday, Feb. 24.

Guests:
- Taylor Wizner, Health Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
- Justin Yax, D.O., Director of HIV Testing and Care Collaborative, University Hospitals
- Dan Polletta, Host, JazzNEO/Ideastream Public Media
- Amanda Rabinowitz, Host and Producer, "Shuffle" and "All Things Considered"
- Charity Evona, R&B Artist