LUBBOCK, Texas — Recent numbers from the CDC show a nearly 80% jump in syphilis cases in just five years. The Director of Lubbock’s Public Health Department, Katherine Wells, said we’re seeing a big increase here too.
“When I started as health department director… we saw an increase in syphilis cases and we saw 50 cases that year,” she explained. “That number has gone from 50 to 650 in Lubbock County.”
Wells said not only is that rise concerning, but recent changes in who’s getting the disease
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The increase in cases has worried experts too. According to Wells, there are more women of childbearing age, from 15 to 44 years old, who are getting the disease. What makes that even more concerning, is that it’s caused a huge spike in congenital syphilis too, or the number of babies born with the illness.
Wells said the Hub City saw 12 cases of congenital syphilis back in 2022. According to Wells, there’s an increased risk of babies with syphilis being stillborn, but there are other, potentially lifelong problems that can arise if a baby is born with the disease.