The numbers of sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis and gonorrhea continue to rise at "alarming rates" in Alberta, health officials say. An alert was sent last week to Alberta Health Services staff warning the province is in the midst of "an ongoing syphilis and gonorrhea outbreak." Gonorrhea cases more than doubled from 1,900 cases in 2014 to more than 5,000 cases in 2018, while syphilis cases increased from 160 in 2014 to more than 1,500 cases in 2018, the alert said. Congenital syphilis 'alarming'While the increase in gonorrhea and syphilis cases is concerning, it's the increase in congenital syphilis cases, where a pregnant woman passes the infection on to her unborn child, that Strong said he finds most alarming. There have been two fetal deaths linked to congenital syphilis in Alberta since 2015.

Source: CBC News May 03, 2019 20:48 UTC