Syphilis outbreak partly caused by 'significant restrictions' on access to testing during Covid
The number of cases are exceeding those seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.
By Jane Moore
Sunday 18 Jul 2021, 8:30 AM
13 hours ago
34,200 Views
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Image: Shutterstock/Jarun Ontakrai
A NATIONAL OUTBREAK of early infectious syphilis (EIS) has been declared in Ireland.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) confirmed this week that there is a “potentially large undiagnosed reservoir of syphilis infection in Ireland due in part to the impact of COVID-19″.
A spokesperson for the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme said that the pandemic led to “significant restrictions” in people’s access to testing in sexual health clinics.