The final rates for sexually transmitted disease diagnoses in San Francisco last year show a rise in many iterations of syphilis, part of a troubling nationwide trend, officials said.
The December 2020 STD report, which includes year-end numbers, was released by the San Francisco Department of Public Health March 5.
Cases of syphilis citywide declined from 1,864 in 2019 to 1,730 in 2020. However, cases of syphilis in women rose from 158 to 178, which precipitated a rise in congenital syphilis (four to five cases).
Congenital syphilis is when a person with syphilis passes the infection on to their baby during pregnancy. Also on the rise were cases of latent syphilis heretofore unknown (96 to 211), and late-latent cases (235 to 246).