21 | OutBoise Magazine | NEWS
You may be thinking, “Wait. Is that what they
said on the news? I thought they called it ‘early
syphilis’.” You’re not wrong. A case of early syphilis
is any syphilis infection of one year or less so it
can include Primary or Secondary Stage syphilis.
So how big of an issue is this, really? Here is some
perspective: In 2014, there were approximately 30
cases of early syphilis diagnosed/treated in Idaho. It
appeared that rates would be steady for 2015, until
the fall. By October, more than 40 cases of early
syphilis had been diagnosed. This particular outbreak has continued and grown to 84 cases of early
syphilis by the middle of February 2016, specifically
in the Ada and Canyon country regions.
OutBoisemag.com | Issue 18 | April 2016
Your Health
that people are having more sexual partners than
they did last year. We can say that it’s not a big
deal, since it can easily be treated (I mean, who
doesn’t like intermuscular injections in the but-
tocks?). It doesn’t matter what we say. The truth is,
syphilis is here right now and it is the responsibility of each of us to talk about it. Whether or not
you’ve had syphilis before, when was the last time
you talk to your sexual partner about it? When was
the last time you got tested for it? Getting tested
is easy and mostly painless (I mean, I can’t guarantee you won’t cry, but you probably won’t). Stop by
a.l.p.h.a. (575 N. 8th Street, Lower Level; Boise), and
get tested. If you’ve been diagnosed with syphilis
Yet again, we find ourselves as a disproportionately affected population. While heterosexual contact has been reported with some of these cases,
before, we can still help you…just ask for Chris!
Get tested, get treated and get on with your day…
it’s really that simple.
the primary group being diagnosed with syphilis are
men who have sex with other men, of all ages. We
Chris Bidiman
can come up with as many reasons as we want as
Executive Director
to why this is the case. We can say that men who
Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS
have sex with men are the primary demographic
575 North 8th Street; Lower Level
diagnosed with HIV, and thus more susceptible to
Boise, ID 83702
other sexually transmitted infections. We can say
(phone) 208-424-7799
that with the increased popularity of PrEP, condom
(fax) 208-629-1260
usage isn’t as important as it once was. We can say