Syphilis, a serious sexually transmitted disease, has “increased 74% since 2017,” according to the CDC. Syphilis in newborn babies “continues to surge, increasing 203% in the past five years” (CDC 2023).
In the midst of the increase in syphilis, there is a shortage of the antibiotic used for treatment, Bicillin L-A. The shortage appears to be due to the increased demand.
Bicillin L-A is an injectable form of penicillin, which is the preferred treatment for syphilis. Due to the shortage, physicians are encouraged to reserve its use for patients who cannot take a different antibiotic for syphilis.
Those patients are pregnant women and babies with congenital syphilis (born with it). Other patients can receive doxycycline, which is an alternative antibiotic to treat syphilis.
According to the CDC, most cases of syphilis are in men who have sex with men (MSM). The incidence has been increasing over the past two decades.
The data in this blog all comes from the CDC website.
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
