- 5 women in the same area developed eye problems in the first 6 months of 2022
- If left untreated, syphilis can affect the eyes, inner ear or central nervous system
- READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE – Experts warn of STI epidemic in RETIREMENT HOMES
An unusual cluster of syphilis infections in patients’ eyes has cropped up in Michigan, health officials have said.
Five women from southwest Michigan contracted syphilis eye infections after having unprotected sex with the same man who they’d all met online, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
Syphilis is a potentially deadly sexually transmitted bacterial infection that spreads via skin-to-skin contact with an infected wound – called a chancre – which develops around the genitals.
But if left untreated, the bug that causes it can travel to the eyes, inner ear or central nervous system.
Syphilis, caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum, is notoriously tricky to diagnose.
Syphilis in the eye only occurs in four percent of people with the infection
Five women from southwest Michigan contracted syphilis eye infections after having unprotected sex with the same man all of them had met online
Symptoms are similar to other conditions – a runny nose and sore throat. Sufferers develop sores, though these start small in size, so often go ignored.
Unlike other sexually transmitted diseases that only affect the eye if it comes into contact with infected fluid, syphilis bacteria can travel through the bloodstream.
It can travel to other organs and bodily systems, including the nervous system, where it can cause stroke, and the eyes, which can result in blindness.
According to the CDC, eye syphilis can involve any part of the organ, but it typically causes inflammation of the middle layer of the eye.
Symptoms may include red eyes, eye pain, sensitivity to light, abnormal eye movements, eye floaters (spots in vision that look like black or gray specks or strings that drift across the eyes), and blurred or lost vision.
In January 2022, a man went to the emergency department complaining of genital ulcers. He was not tested for syphilis, according to the latest CDC report.
One of his female sexual partners was referred to the hospital by an ophthalmologist in March 2022 after she complained of blurred vision and feared she was going blind.
She also had genital ulcers, which were wrongly diagnosed as herpes, and treated with an antiviral drug.
Experts say this is a common mistake. Herpes is roughly 10 times more common than syphilis.
Roughly 55,000 Americans are diagnosed with syphilis every year, compared to 1.6 million cases of chlamydia – the most common STI.
In April 2022, another female patient was admitted to the same hospital with headaches, mild hearing loss and worsening blurry vision and double vision.
She had also been sleeping with the same man.
In May, a further female partner of the man went to a doctor with a full-body rash and peeling skin on the palms of her hands.
She also had spots drifting through her vision and a sensitivity to light.
A fourth woman received a diagnosis of eye syphilis in June, and a fifth case was spotted in a hospital ophthalmology clinic in July.
All of the women were between the ages of 40 and 60.
The man in question was contacted repeatedly by telephone and text message by disease intervention specialists at the Michigan Health Department.
He provided minimal information and said he had failed to respond to officials due to traveling.
He did turn up to an appointment in May 2022 and was found to have no obvious signs of the infection as his sores had healed. He was diagnosed with early latent syphilis – where the STI has occurred in the past year.
