Health IQ: Why is syphilis on the rise in Canada?

A surge in syphilis cases

Canada is facing a concerning surge in syphilis cases, with numbers doubling in recent years, prompting alarm from health officials.

In a media release on Feb. 14, Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), warned that the country is experiencing “an alarming increase in syphilis cases.”

In 2022, there were 13,953 cases of infectious syphilis and 117 cases of early congenital syphilis, which occurs when a pregnant person passes syphilis to their baby. This represents a doubling in infectious syphilis and a six-fold increase in congenital syphilis in Canada compared with 2018, PHAC said.

South of the border, health officials also recently warned about a rise in cases of syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Syphilis, a sexually transmitted bacterial infection, can lead to severe complications if left untreated, affecting organs such as the heart, brain, blood vessels and nervous system.

Read more about why syphilis is on the rise and how to protect yourself.

Alaskapox death

An Alaska man died last month of Alaskapox, a rare virus, which has heightened concerns about the growing occurrence of zoonotic diseases — illnesses that transmit from animals to humans.

Alaskapox was first identified in 2015 in a woman who lived near Fairbanks, Alaska. Since then there have been six other reported cases, with the most recent one resulting in the first death linked to the virus.

The man was undergoing cancer treatment and had a suppressed immune system because of the drugs, which may have contributed to the severity of his illness, health officials said. He also had been caring for a stray cat that often hunted small mammals and scratched him frequently.

Alaskapox, part of the orthopoxvirus family, is known to afflict both animals and humans with disease. This virus family also includes illnesses like smallpox and mpox, according to infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch.

Symptoms of Alaskapox and other viruses in this family can include a rash, swollen lymph nodes and joint or muscle pain.

While Bogoch emphasized that Alaskapox currently doesn’t present a major threat to large populations, he cautioned this still highlights the broader concern of zoonotic diseases crossing into human populations.

Read more about Alaskapox and why these zoonotic diseases are increasing.

— THE TOPIC —

1 in 4 Canadians skip pills due to cost, poll finds

— WHAT EXPERTS ARE SAYING —

Nearly one in four Canadians are struggling to pay for prescription medications and are skipping pills or foregoing refills, a new poll has found.

The poll, released on Feb. 14 by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society, found 22 per cent of respondents are splitting pills, skipping doses or deciding not to fill or renew a prescription due to high costs.

“I think that one of the challenges we have is that we have a universal health-care system, and yet we’re the only country with that universal health-care system that doesn’t have a pharmacare program,” Stuart Edmonds, executive vice-president of mission research and advocacy with the Canadian Cancer Society, said in an interview with Global News.

He said it was “shocking” that the polling found one in 10 Canadians with chronic conditions have ended up in the emergency room due to worsening health because they were unable to afford a prescription.

Universal coverage of essential drugs would save the health-care system an average of $1,488 per patient per year by preventing unexpected trips to the hospital, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The federal Liberals and NDP aim to present a pharmacare plan by their March 1 deadline after agreeing to pass the Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023, a deadline later extended.