Since the beginning of the year, 121 people with syphilis have been registered in our country. This is according to the data of the National Center for Public Health and Analysis, quoted by "Labour".
In practice, this means that almost every day in our country one person is diagnosed with syphilis.
Cases are becoming more frequent, and there is even an infant who is a carrier of the disease.
In Montana, there have been six cases of syphilis since the beginning of the year - three men and three women.
„There is a hypothesis according to which syphilis occurs in epidemics, that is, five years of epidemic, 15 years of light period and then again like that”, said the specialist in skin and venereal diseases Dr. Plamen Uzunov.
„In the range between 19 and 59 years are the registered cases for this year. For the last one, they are between 18 and 68 years of age. As the most registered cases, about 70% for both years, are in the age group between 19 and 35 years old,“, adds Elena Todorova from RZI-Montana.
Dr. Uzunov treats a part of those diagnosed with syphilis in Montana. He advises to consult a doctor immediately if there is even the slightest doubt.
„If a person sees any sores on the genitals, whether male or female, if he feels enlarged lymph nodes, he should immediately go to a dermatologist, because the sooner the treatment begins, the better,” says Dr. Uzunov.
In Montana, a newborn was also diagnosed with syphilis.
„When a baby is born to a mother who is a carrier of the disease, a 10-day course of treatment with Penicillin is mandatory. Then wait six months and test again. If it has cleared and is now negative, it was due to maternal antibodies. However, if it is positive, it is hereditary and is treated according to the rules of hereditary syphilis”, explains the specialist in skin and venereal diseases.
According to him, the disease is completely curable, as long as the patients seek medical help in time. And one of the ways to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases is condoms.
„Here we touch on the issue of safe sex. There is no such thing as completely safe sex, but a big recommendation is to use condoms when there is questionable sexual contact, advises the doctor.
According to infectious disease experts, the real number of infected people is far more startling than the officially reported statistics.
Many people do not get tested, and promiscuous unprotected sex increases the risk of an epidemic.
According to Dr. Momchil Baev, there are periodic outbreaks of syphilis in Sofia, especially in homosexual communities. In previous years, he was the manager of the free testing program. From the "Single Step" foundation offer research that is free and completely anonymous.