Syphilis cases spike in New Kensington
The Pennsylvania Health Department has blamed prostitution and drug abuse for a venereal disease outbreak in a northern Westmoreland County community.
State health officials said that since October, 28 cases of syphilis have been reported exclusively in the New Kensington area. In each case, a prostitute, a drug user or both tested positive for the disease.
Robert McGarvey, a state health department spokesman, said before October there had not been a reported case of syphilis in the county since 1995.
Although the last syphilis case was reported about three weeks ago, officials fear the outbreak is far from over.
"When you have it in the prostitution community, you always are concerned it gets spread to the clients. You don't want syphilis to get a toehold. This is a large spike," McGarvey said.
About two months ago, health department workers came to the county prison in Hempfield Township and tested about 80 inmates from the New Kensington area to see if they were infected. The inmates agreed to the testing.
Prison and health department officials declined to say if any inmates tested positive for syphilis.
McGarvey said health department testing in prisons is not unusual.
"That's the procedure if they are an at-risk population," McGarvey said.
The high number of local syphilis cases contradicts a national trend showing that the disease has waned.
"Syphilis is at an all-time low in the United States," said Jessica Frickey, spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. "There have been some outbreaks in several cities around the country, but overall syphilis has been declining over the years."
| Syphilis facts |
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During the primary stage, a firm, round, small and painless sore — called a chancre — appears at the spot where the bacteria entered the body. This normally occurs between 10 to 90 days after infection and lasts from three to six weeks. The sore will heal on its own, but if treatment is not sought, the disease progresses. The secondary stage begins when the skin breaks out into a rash that is not itchy and usually appears as rough, red or reddish-brown spots on the palms of the hands and the bottoms of the feet. But the rash also may appear in different ways on other parts of the body. The rash will clear on its own as well. Other symptoms in this stage include fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, patchy hair loss, headaches, weight loss, muscle aches and tiredness. If syphilis continues to go untreated, the disease will enter its late stage. The bacteria may begin to damage internal organs and cause loss of coordination, paralysis, numbness, gradual blindness and dementia. The damage may cause death.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Pennsylvania Department of Health |
In 2000, the last year for which data is available, 5,979 cases of syphilis were reported nationwide — none in Westmoreland County. That marks a decline of 9.6 percent from the 1999 rates.
The CDC attributes that decline to a national program begun in 1998 to try to eliminate the disease. Frickey said the agency's goal is to have 90 percent of the 3,135 counties in United States syphilis-free by 2005.
Officials said syphilis seems to be concentrated in just a few areas. Half the cases reported in 2000 came from just 21 counties.
"That's a good indicator that we're on the right track," Frickey said.
The last high-water mark for syphilis was 1990, prompting the CDC to start its elimination program with an eye toward preventing another outbreak a decade later.
Because of the cyclical nature of the disease — it peaks about once a decade — the CDC expected to see more cases in 2000, but that did not happen.
Frickey said outbreaks can occur when one or two people with the disease move into a community. One case can spread quickly to many.
"Syphilis is an easily treatable disease," Frickey said. "We're going to use the natural cycle of the disease and try to break that cycle."
Officials said the local syphilis outbreak is associated with prostitution in New Kensington's downtown business district on Fifth Avenue.
The problem became so bad that in February, Judge Daniel Ackerman issued an injunction that closed Chippy's, a Fifth Avenue bar that law enforcement officials claimed in court papers was a den of prostitution and illegal drug sales.
People who live or work near the bar said prostitutes walked the streets day and night, propositioned motorists and routinely had sex in parked cars.
"They were there morning to night," said Ken Frazier, owner of Memory Lane Flower Shop just down the street from Chippy's.
Attorney Michael Nardelli, whose office is across the street from the now-closed bar, said he wouldn't allow his wife and young children to come to his office. Men looking to solicit prostitutes propositioned his female staffers.
"It was so open and so prevalent you actually had prostitutes flagging down people as they drove by. It was that brazen," Nardelli said.
Downtown business owners say the prostitutes moved on after Chippy's was closed.
New Kensington police and county detectives make two to three prostitution sweeps a year in an effort to stem the problem. The last sweep earlier this year resulted in about a half-dozen arrests, said New Kensington Sgt. Dennis Marsili. He said police make as many as 15 arrests for prostitution each year.
City leaders, who concede the prostitution problem undoubtedly led to the syphilis outbreak, are concerned prostitutes went underground and will return.
Mayor Frank Link, a former police chief in the city, said efforts continue to get prostitutes off the street and rid New Kensington of the syphilis.
"Obviously it's something we're aware of, and we're working to get them off the streets. (Arresting prostitutes) is one way of getting them in, and getting them checked and hopefully getting a lid on this thing," he said.
