Syphilis (caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum) is more common among the following groups:
Gay men and MSM: The rate of diagnosis of syphilis has increased during the past 10 years. A high proportion of MSM with syphilis are HIV positive or taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander: Indigenous Australians have about a 6.6-fold higher rate of syphilis diagnosis than non-Indigenous people.
However, rates vary widely in different communities, with more isolated communities reporting the highest rates of infection.
In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in 2017 54% of infections occurred among men as compared to 94% of infections occurring among men in the non-Indigenous community. One in five (21%) of infectious syphilis notifications were in people aged 15-19 years as compared to 2% in the non-indigenous population. High rates of infection are related to an epidemic of syphilis that has spread in northern Australia, starting in north Queensland in 2011, to the Northern Territory in 2013, north Western Australia in 2014 and then into South Australia in 2016. Over the last ten years (2008-2017) more than half (26 cases, 59%) of the 44 cases of congenital syphilis were among Aboriginal and ...
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