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Syphilis is spreading nationally and across Colorado among residents using drugs, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Heterosexual syphilis and drug use are intersecting epidemics,” the report said.

La Plata County is likely not immune from the trend because opioid addiction is a known problem in the county, said Liane Jollon, executive director of San Juan Basin Public Health.

Those with substance use disorders are more likely to participate in risky sexual behavior and needle sharing – both activities that can spread infections, such as syphilis, she said.

Syphilis is caused by a bacteria. Left untreated, it can lead to blindness, paralysis, numbness and dementia, according to the CDC. It is curable in the early stages with antibiotics.

The disease has been rising nationally since 2000 and 2001, when it reached a historic low at 2.1 cases per 100,000, according to the CDC. In 2017,the national rate was 9.5 cases per 100,000.

Until 2013, the spread of disease was mostly among men who have sex with men. However, between 2013 and 2017, the disease started to spread more among those who engage in opposite gender sex, use methamphetamine or heroin, inject drugs or have sex with someone injecting drugs, the report found.

In Colorado, syphilis has reached an all-time high. In 2017, 818 new cases were reported, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

“We have been concerned about overall increases in sexual diseases for some time,” said Dr. Dan Shodell, deputy director of disease control at the state health department.

In La Plata County, the state estimates the rate of less severe syphilis cases is between 5.1 and 7.5 cases per 100,000. It was one of 13 counties in Colorado with high enough rates of syphilis to report.

To tackle the problem, the state may use some new federal funding slated to respond to the increase in opioid addictions to also help fund sexually transmitted disease prevention, Shodell said.

Medical providers will play a key role in prevention by referring patients who receive addiction treatment for sexual screening, he said. Providers who screen for sexual disease will also need to refer patients to addiction treatment, he said.

Jollon said work must be done to educate providers in both areas on the need to make such referrals.

The state health department is also working to gather local data about the spread of the disease to help inform prevention efforts, she said.

“These are diseases that we can control if we have the actionable data,” she said.

Jollon said she suspects the disease may be spreading among those who are using illegal substances because they fear that seeking medical care will expose their illegal drug use; however, medical providers cannot report that activity.

“We don’t want create barriers to receiving care,” she said.

Those with substance use disorders are also likely to face other challenges that can be detrimental to their health, such as poverty and discrimination because of their substance abuse problem, Shodell said.

“Sometimes these things we see on the surface – the acquisition of syphilis – is the symptom of much more fundamental underlying problems,” he said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com