--- title: Syphilis Rates Are Up in the U.S. description: A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that cases of the sexually transmitted disease have doubled in the U.S. since 2005—there were 16,663 new infections last year—and that men account for 91 percent of the cases canonical: https://time.com/92763/syphilis-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s-especially-in-men/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-08T18:36:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:44:12.952Z article:section: Health og:title: Syphilis Rates Are Up in the U.S. og:description: A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that cases of the sexually transmitted disease have doubled in the U.S. since 2005—there were 16,663 new infections last year—and that men account for 91 percent of the cases og:url: https://time.com/92763/syphilis-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s-especially-in-men/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Syphilis Rates Are Up in the U.S. twitter:description: A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that cases of the sexually transmitted disease have doubled in the U.S. since 2005—there were 16,663 new infections last year—and that men account for 91 percent of the cases twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Syphilis Rates Are Up in the U.S., Especially in Men by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 8, 2014 6:36 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 8, 2014 6:36 PM UTC Syphilis cases have doubled in the U.S. since 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [said Thursday](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6318a4.htm?s%5Fcid=mm6318a4%5Fw). Last year, 16,663 were infected with the sexually transmitted disease, the highest rate in the U.S. since it was nearly eliminated in 2000. The increase is seen almost entirely in [men](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6318a4.htm?s%5Fcid=mm6318a4%5Fw), who account for 91% of cases in the U.S., the CDC said. The highly contagious disease’s infection rate among women has remained fairly constant since 2005. In its report, the CDC added that new cases were most commonly diagnosed among men who have sex with men, cautioning that this is “a major public-health concern, particularly because syphilis and the behaviors associated with acquiring it increase the likelihood of acquiring and transmitting HIV.” If left untreated, syphilis can cause serious damage to the brain and nerves. The agency recommended that doctors encourage safer sex practices and increase screening for the STD. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/92763/syphilis-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s-especially-in-men/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/92763/syphilis-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s-especially-in-men/"},"headline":"Syphilis Rates Are Up in the U.S., Especially in Men","datePublished":"2014-05-08T18:36:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:44:12.952Z","description":"A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that cases of the sexually transmitted disease have doubled in the U.S. since 2005—there were 16,663 new infections last year—and that men account for 91 percent of the cases","url":"https://time.com/92763/syphilis-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s-especially-in-men/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","CDC","STD"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/92763/syphilis-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s-especially-in-men/","name":"Syphilis Rates Are Up in the U.S., Especially in Men"}}]}] ```