By Marie Szaniszlo
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=56646

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  Soaring syphilis rate ends decade of decline in Hub
  By Marie Szaniszlo

  Wednesday, December 1, 2004

  After a decade of decline, Boston now has one of the nation's
  highest syphilis rates, according to federal statistics.

       At least 69 cases, or 11.5 per 100,000 people, were reported
  last year, giving the city the sixth highest rate in the nation,
  after San Francisco, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit and Newark,
  respectively, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
  Prevention.

  Last year's rate represents a 43.8 percent increase over the
  previous year, when the CDC ranked Boston 16th in the country.

  In 2001, the city ranked 28th.

       John Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health
  Commission, attributed much of the steady rise to a 37 percent cut
  in state funding over the past three years in AIDS prevention,
  treatment and services, which had helped educate people about the
  dangers of risky sexual behavior.

       Other reasons for the increase could be advances in AIDS
  treatment, which ironically may have led some people to be
  generally less cautious, said Dr. Kenneth Mayer, medical research
  director at the Fenway Community Health Center, which treats many
  of the gay men who are believed to make up the bulk of new syphilis
  cases.

       Recent CDC research suggests that more than 60 percent of the
  7,177 syphilis cases reported last year involved men having sex
  with men.

       Mayer recommended that anyone who is sexually active be tested
  at least once a year. For information about free screenings, log on to
  http://www.gettestedboston.org
  or contact the Public Health Commission at
  617 534 5264

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By Marie Szaniszlo
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=56646