Syphilis Elimination Effort (SEE)
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Contact Information
2 Peachtree St. NW, 12th Floor
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-463-0408
404-657-3133 (Fax)
1.800.georgia or 678.georgia
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Mission
The mission of the Georgia Syphilis Elimination Effort (SEE) is to promote the health and quality of life for Georgians through collaborative partnerships working to prevent, control, and eliminate the transmission of syphilis.
What is SEE?
The Syphilis Elimination Effort (SEE) is a national initiative that brings together health care providers, policy makers, community leaders and state and local public health agencies, to reduce syphilis rates in the United States. Working together, we have a unique opportunity to control this devastating disease, reduce the transmission of HIV, and protect unborn infants.
SEE History
In 1998, the reported rate of infectious Syphilis in the United States was at the lowest point ever recorded. To take advantage of this unique opportunity, in October 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a national initiative to eliminate Syphilis from the United States. CDC recognized the following five strategies as critical to the nation's success in eliminating Syphilis:
- Enhanced Surveillance
- Rapid Outbreak Response
- Enhanced Health Promotion
- Strengthened Community Involvement
- Expanded Clinical and Laboratory Services
The SEE plan is designed to end the sustained transmission of the disease in the U.S. by focusing efforts on the populations most affected by syphilis - heterosexual minority populations, particularly African Americans. In these populations, substantial progress has been made in reducing the burden of syphilis, yet overall syphilis rates have been on the rise since 2001, largely due to increasing rates of syphilis among men who have sex with men (MSM). Additionally, the reported rates of infectious Syphilis have declined in the United States, yet Syphilis remains a major health concern for the Southern United States.
The 2005 STD Surveillance Report from CDC reports that the South accounted for 46.4% of primary and secondary Syphilis in 2005 and 47.5% in 2004. Georgia is number one in the nation for primary and secondary Syphilis with 645 cases per 7.3 per one hundred thousand, with both Fulton and DeKalb Counties baring the majority of the morbidity.
Georgia's Response
In response to the National Syphilis Elimination Plan, Georgia's Syphilis Elimination Project developed three broad strategies to ensure the successful reduction of Syphilis in counties across the state:
- Enhance Surveillance and Outbreak Response
- Improve Biomedical and Behavioral Intervention
- Strengthen Community Involvement and Organizational Partnerships
Project Goals
- Enhance Surveillance and Outbreak Response
- Complete an evaluation of the current Syphilis surveillance systems utilized in the high morbidity areas of Fulton, DeKalb Counties, other metro areas and districts.
- Implement recommendations to enhance the Surveillance systems and increase the timeliness, accuracy and completeness of reporting.
- Assess the local social, behavioral and institutional factors related to the persistence of Syphilis within the high morbidity areas of Fulton, DeKalb Counties, other metro areas and districts.
- Establish Outbreak Response Teams.
- Strengthen Community Involvement and Organizational Partnerships
- Identify non-governmental, community based, health and non-health agencies and institutions, and members of the faith community to participate in the development of a Syphilis Elimination Plan.
- Convene local Syphilis elimination coalitions comprised of representatives from affected communities and key organizations.
- Sponsor Syphilis elimination workshops to provide health education, communication materials, lectures and program information to institutions and individuals.
- Improved Biomedical and Behavioral Intervention
- Conduct a community needs assessment to identify behavioral prevention and intervention needs of individuals at high risk of contracting Syphilis, assess the availability and accessibility of services offered by providers, document available resources, and identify communication and service delivery gaps and barriers for interventions.
- Develop, design, implement and evaluate a Health Communications Plan, which sets up and coordinates the steps to use health communication strategies.
What is Syphilis?
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by spirochete Treponema Pallidum. Syphilis is an infection that can affect anyone involved in unprotected sex. The Syphilis spirochete affects the body, the bloodstream. Syphilis is easy to detect and cure, given that the person seeks care at there local health care facility.
What are some of the signs and symptoms of Syphilis?
Syphilis has four stages:
- Primary
- Secondary
- Early Latency
- Late Latency and Tertiary
These four stages have different symptoms. The initial (Primary) stage is characterized by highly contagious open sore(s) at the site of infection. This sore will heal without treatment. The next stage (Secondary) is characterized by body rashes. Spots on the palms of the hands and bottom of the feet (palmar/plantar sores), a rash on forearms, or temporary loss of hair (alopecia), may be present. These signs and symptoms will disappear without medication, and they may not make you feel sick. The next stage, (Early Latency) has no visible signs or symptoms. Only a blood test for this particular disease will detect it. The latent (hidden) stage of the Syphilis begins when the secondary symptoms disappear without treatment. If detected within one year of initial infection, it is identified as early latent. Late Latent is a stage in when initial infection has occurred more than a year ago. Tertiary Syphilis is late phase of the infection and follows initial primary infection 3-5 years later.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Syphilis disproportionately affects a small percentage of the population and research shows that these are often isolated groups involved in high-risk activities such as illicit drug use, exchanging sex for money or drugs, unprotected sexual intercourse and having multiple sex partners. Some areas have historically been worse affected than others. Today, syphilis remains a highly concentrated infection especially in the South and, increasingly, in urban areas of the country that have large populations of men who have sex with men.
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