Cases of a potentially life-threatening disease that tore across Europe during medieval times leaving millions dead are at record levels.
The symptoms include sores, warts and rashes and if left untreated can cause potentially fatal problems with your heart and brain. New data from the UK Health Security Agency shows infectious syphilis diagnoses increased to 8,692 in 2022, up 15.2% compared to 2021 and the largest annual number since 1948. Syphilis erupted across Europe in the 1490s, when the "exceptionally virulent" disease caused severe ulceration. Deaths from the period have been reported at five million.
But it's not the only serious sexually transmitted disease on the rise. Cases of gonorrhoea increased to 82,592 in 2022, an increase of 50.3% compared to 2021 and the highest number of diagnoses in any one year since records began in 1918. It, too, can cause serious health problems.
