opinion

Riverside County and Palm Springs are seeing a spike in syphilis. You can help end it.

At the Riverside County Department of Public Health, we’re seeing 10 times the amount of syphilis in newborn babies we saw three years ago. Rates in adults continue to climb across America. How is a disease so old still a problem so big?

We can’t tackle this alone. We’re bringing together community leaders, health care providers, business owners and other concerned folks to find ideas to combat the growing spread of syphilis in Riverside County — particularly in the Coachella Valley, where the disease is spreading at an alarming rate.

The Riverside County Syphilis Community Collaborative will hold its first meeting at 1:30 p.m., May 15, at the Demuth Community Center, 3601 E. Mesquite Ave. in Palm Springs.

The spread of syphilis has been growing for several years both nationally and in California, where the rate is about 15 cases per 100,000 people. In Riverside County as a whole, that rate is about 12 cases per 100,000, but in the Coachella Valley the rate is nearly three times as high. In portions of Palm Springs, the rate jumps to 185 cases per 100,000 people.

Incredible increases in adult syphilis like these are a big concern by themselves. But the real tragedy is that when you get to a critical level of adult syphilis, then some pregnant women will catch it, too. They, in turn, can transmit it to their unborn children.

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Up to 40 percent of babies born to women with untreated syphilis will be stillborn or die shortly after birth. Even if they survive, the infection can cause serious permanent disability, including blindness, deafness, ruined teeth and distorted bones and joints. No amount of antibiotics will fix that.

Any way you look at it, these increased case numbers are jarring, and we recognize that we need something more to halt the spread of syphilis. We already do tremendous work in the community through our testing, referral and educational programs, but all of that clearly is not enough.

The time has come for some “outside-the-box” thinking and that’s why we’re bringing together people with expertise and experience working with the populations that are most at risk from the disease. Government is often criticized — and many times rightly so — for being slow to change and for staying in our silos. We want to change that.

One meeting won’t slow the spread of syphilis by itself, but the ideas and collaboration that comes from such gatherings is a good first step. We at Public Health know we can’t do this on our own, but with the help of the community and our partners, all of us together can get things done.

Bring your ideas. Tell us what’s working, and what isn’t. Let’s work together.

Cameron Kaiser, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.F.P., is Public Health Officer for the County of Riverside. Email Dr. Kaiser at ckaiser@rivcocha.org.