EDMONTON—Alberta is declaring a provincial outbreak of syphilis after the number of cases reported in 2018 proved to be the highest the province has seen in 70 years.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, released the latest numbers at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. She said Alberta saw a sharp increase in syphilis, a once rare sexually transmitted infection (or STI), in 2018 with 1,536 cases reported.

Of those cases, 977 were reported in the Edmonton zone — a striking increase of 305 per cent from the number of cases reported in the city in 2017. The highest increase was seen in the north zone of Alberta, which includes cities like Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie, where 208 cases were reported in 2018 — a 324 per cent increase from 2017.

The stats are a dramatic shift from 2014, when the number of reported cases of syphilis was 161. In four years, the overall reported cases of syphilis in Alberta increased almost tenfold. The rate of infectious syphilis, according to Alberta Health, has not been this high in the province since 1948.

Hinshaw said the causes for the spike are difficult to pinpoint, but a provincial outbreak co-ordination committee, which includes the government and Alberta Health Services, has been formed to look at that and to come up with concrete solutions to increase STI testing in the province. The panel will be examining the issue over the course of the next three months, she said.

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“(STIs) are a risk to anyone who is sexually active,” Hinshaw said. “Particularly people who have new sex partners and are not using protection.”

Syphilis usually doesn’t show any symptoms in its primary stages, but can be treated by antibiotics. If not treated, the infection “rolls through the body in stages,” Hinshaw said. It can lead to fever and fatigue, and can progress into a brain, heart, or eye infection in its later stages.

“Syphilis is known as ‘the great imitator,’” Hinshaw said, because it can cause eye problems, dementia, and heart problems, among other complications throughout the body.

Cases of congenital syphilis, which can occur in a child born to a mother with syphilis, are also on the rise, Hinshaw said. There were 22 reported cases of the severe, disabling, and life-threatening disease in Alberta between 2014 and 2018, one of which was stillborn.

It is unclear how Alberta’s syphilis rates compare with the rest of the country, because other jurisdictions have not released recent figures on the disease, but Hinshaw said Alberta’s syphilis rate was higher than neighbouring British Columbia in 2017 — 19.5 cases per 100,000 people were reported in Alberta that year, versus 13.2 in B.C.

The new numbers have shifted Alberta’s rate to 35.7 cases per 100,000 people, an overall increase of 182 per cent from last year. Hinshaw added the age group that is most affected is Albertans who are 15 to 29 years old.

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Dr. Laura McDougall, the senior medical officer of health at Alberta Health Services, said it’s important the stigma that often exists around STI testing is lifted, and the province’s health authority is focused on increasing awareness through social media campaigns and other methods to ensure that STI testing is talked about and accessible to all Albertans.

“Sexual health is a part of our overall health,” McDougall said. “ ... It’s important that we think about including detection and treatment of STIs into our routine care.”

Nadine Yousif is a reporter/photographer for Star Edmonton. Follow her on twitter: @nadineyousif_

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