Manitoba syphilis cases dropped 29% last year

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This article was published 17/02/2024 (579 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada’s chief public health officer said earlier this week that cases of syphilis across the country have doubled since 2018, but the number of cases in Manitoba reached a five-year low in 2023, dropping by 689 cases — almost 30 per cent — from the previous year.

As part of Sexual Health Week, Dr. Theresa Tam made a statement on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada on Wednesday about how the country needs to address a “recent upward trajectory in new cases.”

“In 2022, there were 13,953 cases of infectious syphilis and 117 cases of early congenital syphilis, which occurs when a pregnant person passes syphilis to their baby,” Tam said in her statement.

“This represents a doubling in infectious syphilis and a six-fold increase in congenital syphilis compared to 2018.”

Statistics obtained by the Sun from Manitoba Health on Friday show that the total number of syphilis infections increased every year from 2019 through 2022, but dropped by 29.1 per cent in 2023:

• 2019: 1,945 infectious cases, 245 non-infectious cases and 2187 total cases.

• 2020: 1,919 infectious cases, 301 non-infectious cases and 2,220 total cases.

• 2021: 2,010 infectious cases, 298 non-infectious cases and 2,308 total cases.

• 2022: 2,018 infectious cases, 346 non-infectious cases and 2,364 total cases.

• 2023: 1,459 infectious cases, 216 non-infectious cases and 1,675 total cases.

The number of cases of congenital syphilis also dropped in 2023. The province provided statistics on congenital syphilis cases from 2020 through 2023:

• 2020: 15 lab-confirmed cases, 17 clinically-confirmed cases and 18 probable cases.

• 2021: 30 lab-confirmed cases, 5 clinically-confirmed cases and 29 probable cases.

• 2022: 22 lab-confirmed cases, two clinically-confirmed cases and 65 probable cases.

• 2023: 16 lab-confirmed cases, zero clinically-confirmed cases and 36 probable cases.

By email, a Manitoba Health spokesperson said future data will help the department confirm whether that decline in cases from last year was an outlier or part of a downwards trend.

“Manitoba Health has implemented several initiatives in the last year aimed at reducing syphilis and congenital syphilis rates including: expanded syphilis education and enhanced tools for health-care providers, additional public health staffing resources to improve follow-up and deliver education for people with sexually transmitted infections and their contacts, and collaborative work with health-care providers to increase testing options and availability,” the spokesperson said.

In an interview with the Sun, Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC) co-executive director Gillian Roy said she doesn’t think there were many cases of syphilis when she first started working in her field back in 2005, but they’ve been increasing since then.

SERC operates two offices in Manitoba — one in Winnipeg and the other on 10th Street in Brandon.

“It’s always hard for folks like SERC to tell if the dip in reported cases is because people aren’t getting tested or is it because prevention efforts are working,” Roy said, adding that a lot of SERC’s prevention efforts were replaced by COVID-19 awareness efforts during the pandemic.

One of the organization’s goals in Brandon these days, she said, is to have staff walk around handing out safer sex supplies.

They also hand out safer substance use supplies — since several sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBI) like hepatitis and HIV can also be acquired through sharing items like needles — and spread the word about how people can get tested and treated if they do acquire an illness.

While barriers like condoms “are certainly one of the top methods of preventing sexually transmitted infections like syphilis,” Roy said a difference between it and other infections like chlamydia and gonorrhea is that syphilis can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact.

“One of the first signs of syphilis is what looks like a sore, but doesn’t feel like a sore,” she said. “That’s why things like testing are really important, because if we were able to find those cases early on, they’re able to take the medication through their health-care provider and essentially be cured.”

If someone discovered any kind of changes to their skin, new lumps, bumps, rashes, sores after having some kind of sexual contact or if a sexual partner has acquired an infection, Roy recommends that they go for testing. Another important component is to go for regular testing at a certain interval, like every six months.

Brandon residents are also able to set up an appointment to visit the local SERC office to pick up supplies or educational materials and get advice by emailing brandon@serc.mb.ca, or by visiting during occasional drop-in hours.

Roy said a new service in which people can send sexual health questions via text message will be launched on SERC’s website in the next couple of weeks. More information will be posted online at serc.mb.ca.

In an email, a spokesperson for Prairie Mountain Health said it continues to see cases of syphilis “throughout the region” since it declared an outbreak in 2018.

“Public health nurses follow up with all syphilis cases and contacts to ensure that people are tested and treated and to provide education on how to prevent transmission,” the spokesperson said. “Health care providers provide education, testing and treatment throughout the region and in a variety of settings, including but not limited to offices, clinics, teen clinics, outreach settings.”

They added that someone being treated for syphilis should avoid sexual contact for at least seven days after finishing a treatment and that people who are pregnant are recommended to be treated for the illness three times: once at the first pre-natal visit, another time at 28-32 weeks and a final time when their baby is being delivered.

Someone suspecting they have syphilis or another STBBI is recommended to have an open an honest conversation with their health-care provider so they can get advice on testing and treatment.

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