Murray Wood: Regina's top cop busted out of the force
Murray Wood says it would have been impossible for Farooq Sheikh to continue as police chief in Regina. Now, he says the...
According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, the number of syphilis infections in the province is up nearly 50 per cent over last year so far.
While the numbers are still preliminary, up to Nov. 6, there were 575 cases in the province, compared with 398 cases in total for 2019, and 91 cases in 2018.
Provincial health strategy director Colleen Brook says there’s been a sharp spike in the number of infectious syphilis cases across North America over the last three years.
In Saskatchewan since 2016, the rates rose from 7.2 per 100,000 population to 32.9 per 100,000 in 2019.
According to her report, “Although transmission among men who have sex with men has been ongoing, a particular concern with the recent outbreaks is the number of cases occurring among women of childbearing age and pregnant women.”
Syphilis rates are the highest in major cities, with increases in some rural areas and First Nations communities, although where that’s specifically occurring was not revealed.
Brook says the rate of chlamydia has gone down this year, from 6422 reported cases in 2019, to 4649 in 2020. Similarly, with gonorrhea, the numbers have fallen from 2586 to 2295.
However, she adds that the numbers may also be lower because some lab services have been directed towards COVID-19 case management.
The Ministry of Health is working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and First Nations jurisdictions to develop a provincially coordinated plan to address the increase in cases.
