Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men accounted for 75% of all U.S. syphilis cases in 2012. Syphilis rates plummeted in the 1990s and people talked of being able to eliminate it, until it made a comeback among gay/bi men, particularly HIV positive men. The CDC reported that, its system of tracking new syphilis infections found that among gay bi and other men who have sex with men, about 40% of syphilis cases in 2011 occurred among HIV positive men. According to “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly,” a gay/bi or other man who has sex with men is 46X more likely to be infected with syphilis than are other men. Syphilis can also interact with HIV infection, causing a spike in viral loads from undetectable to infectious, and possibly reducing the effectiveness of treatment. A syphilis infection can also make an HIV negative man more susceptible to HIV infection.
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