In 2013, 5,015 cases of syphilis were registered in Germany. Four out of five of all reported cases were presumably due to sexual contact between men.
Accordingly, the number of reported cases rose by 13.5 per cent compared to the previous year. The number of reported syphilis cases has been rising continuously since 2010. This was announced by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in its latest Epidemiological Bulletin. The increase in syphilis cases is not only due to increased testing, it continues. The higher proportion compared to previous years indicates that the number of fresh syphilis infections has actually increased.
Statistically, the number of new syphilis cases nationwide in 2013 was 6.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The highest figures were recorded in Berlin (23.6), Hamburg (18.5) and Bremen (8.0). The largest relative increases between 2012 and 2013 were in the cities of Nuremberg (+174 %), Stuttgart (+102 %) and Dresden (+89 %).
The continued rise in reported syphilis infections shows how important the early diagnosis and treatment of syphilis infections is, according to the Robert Koch Institute in its report. The RKI also suggests raising awareness of a possible link between syphilis and HIV: if syphilis is present, the probability of HIV transmission during sex is increased. An HIV test should therefore be offered in the case of newly diagnosed syphilis, and the same applies vice versa, according to the recommendation.
Region-specific analyses of syphilis notification data can be called up here according to various characteristics: https://survstat.rki.de/
The current Epidemiological Bulletin: http://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Infekt/EpidBull/Archiv/2014/50/Art_01.html
