The number of syphilis cases in the United States among men who have sex with men who are infected with HIV, as well as in the general population of MSM, are nearing “epidemic” levels, according to Ina Park, MD, medical director of the California STD/HIV Prevention Training Center and associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.

“We’re soon going to be at levels close to the early 1980s, right at the start of the HIV epidemic,” she said.

Park discusses an ocular presentation of syphilis as well as other STDs in patients with HIV. She emphasizes the importance of frequent STD screening among these patients, noting that the increase in syphilis should serve as a reminder to be vigilant. Watch Dr. Parks comments via Healio