The Return of Syphilis

“In the yere of Chryst 1493 or there aboute this most foule and most grievous disease beganne to sprede amonge the people,” a German scholar named Ulrich von Hutten wrote soon after the first known outbreak of syphilis swept across Europe.

In his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, the historian Jared Diamond elaborated: “Its pustules often covered the body from the head to the knees, caused flesh to fall off people’s faces, and led to death within a few months.”

Today, syphilis can seem like a historical relic, more likely to appear in period movies than in one’s next-door neighbor. But after more than a decade of increases in syphilis cases, the United States is looking at its highest rate in recent memory.

According to a released on November 17 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, syphilis rates rose for both genders