RISKY BEHAVIOR
Searching for anonymous sex on Craigslist is free, but finding it could come with a hidden cost: a sexually transmitted disease.
That doesn't stop hundreds of people -- such as "Cool, bi-curious guy seeking fun but safe sex" -- from posting and responding to ads, even hooking up with strangers every day.
It's like gambling, says Cool Guy, a Silverado Ranch resident who wouldn't reveal his real name. The risk is there but people bet it won't happen to them.
It's that attitude, and the availability of fast, no-strings attached sex through the Internet, that Southern Nevada Health District officials believe may have contributed to a local outbreak of syphilis.
Since 2004, the number of syphilis cases reported in Southern Nevada has increased more than 200 percent, says health district disease investigator Chris Reynolds. Then, there were 50 cases. Last year, 236 cases were reported. The numbers are on track to matching that in 2007 with 206 cases reported so far, Reynolds says. Men who have sex with men account for more than half, 56 percent, of all cases.
"Due to the Internet and technology, people have lost their ability to engage in meaningful face-to-face communication," Reynolds says. "And the Internet has led to an increase in anonymous sexual behavior."
Of the more than 200 ads posted Oct. 9 in Craigslist's men seeking men section, few listed safe sex or disease-free as criteria for meeting. Five of those men, when contacted by the Review-Journal, insisted safe sex was a priority. None of them were aware that there is a syphilis outbreak in Las Vegas; all of them identified themselves as heterosexual men who sometimes have sex with other men.
"I haven't done this a lot but this is Vegas," e-mails one man who was staying on the Strip with his girlfriend. "I want to try it. I'll have to hope I can find someone who's as safety-conscious as I am."
When a person receives a syphilis diagnosis, the health district contacts his or her sexual partners from the previous six months. Reynolds has found that many of those diagnosed met their sex partners through the Internet.
But it's not just gay men who are diagnosed with syphilis. Some men who have sex with men identify themselves as heterosexual and say they are married, notes Joshua Montgomery, HIV prevention coordinator for the Las Vegas Gay and Lesbian Center.
To them, sexual contact with another man doesn't "count," which may make them more likely to engage in unsafe sex.
"It happens a whole lot more than the real world wants to accept or acknowledge," says Montgomery, who has worked with heterosexual and bisexual men in his safe sex workshops. "And they're in denial. They don't have the knowledge that (unreciprocated sex) comes with a risk. Sexual contact is sexual contact."
Americans tend to be reserved when it comes to sex and may find it embarrassing to talk to potential partners about sexually transmitted diseases, Reynolds says. That can be disastrous. Syphilis is curable, but left untreated long enough, it can damage organs, cause blindness, brain damage and death.
"We tend to want to believe what we read," Reynolds says, referring to seekers of sex who advertise on the Internet that they are disease-free. "People are taking these statements as facts and not using proper precautions."
The Centers for Disease Control announced in 2000 that syphilis was on the verge of being eradicated but only a year later, outbreaks started hitting major metropolitan areas. An outbreak occurs about every 30 years, Reynolds says, which also could account for the latest increase. The United States last experienced one during the 1970s and before that, in the 1940s.
Since becoming aware of the latest outbreak, the health district stepped up outreach and educational efforts, offering an STD clinic at the Las Vegas Gay and Lesbian Center. Dozens of men come to the free clinic every Thursday to be tested for HIV and syphilis, he says.
The health district also launched an awareness campaign, "EZ 2 Get. EZ 2 Get Rid Of. Get Tested." Ads run regularly in local gay publications, and Reynolds works closely with leaders in the gay community to get the word out.
But syphilis is not just a gay problem, experts say.
Overall, people seem to have become complacent about safe sex, possibly because they're burned out on it, says Jennifer Morss, associate director of Aid for AIDS of Nevada. Since the 1980s, people have been hearing messages about safe sex; they've heard it so often, they may have stopped listening.
Scare tacttics don't work and when used to encourage safe sex, they can cause a loss of credibility for the message, Morss notes.
"You tell kids, 'Have unsafe sex you'll die. Do drugs you'll die.' Then they do both and don't die, the message loses its effectiveness," Morss says.
Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4564.
• 236 cases of syphilis were reported in the valley in 2006 • Men who have sex with men account for 56% of local cases • Those ages 20 to 29 and 40 to 50 have higher numbers of occurrences. • 206 cases of syphilis have been reported in Southern Nevada through Sept. 30 -- 50 in 2004 -- 144 in 2005 • About 70 percent of those diagnosed with syphilis are male -- 25 percent are Hispanic -- 25 percent are black -- 4 percent are Asian -- 1 percent are American Indian DISEASE CURABLE WHEN TREATED EARLY Syphilis, a bacterial infection, has been around since the 1800s and has afflicted thousands of people, including Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln and gangster Al Capone. It’s spread through vaginal, anal and oral sex. It also can be transmitted skin to skin; lying naked with someone can spread the bacteria if a person has an open sore. People with syphilis are 300 percent more likely to contract the HIV virus because they have an open path to the bloodstream, notes Chris Reynolds, disease investigator for the Southern Nevada Health District. A cure was discovered in 1942 and cases have been declining since. But, though it can be cured, syphilis remains a dangerous disease, he says. Untreated, it can cause blindness, organ damage and death. Testing is easy and free if done through the health district at 625 Shadow Lane. The blood test is offered from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in annex A. The entrance, at the southwest corner of the health district building, is private, Reynolds notes. If you’re diagnosed with it, treatment is free, as well. Depending on the stage of the disease at diagnosis, treatment is either a single shot of an antibiotic or three injections over three weeks. For more information, call 759-0888. SYMPTOMS Syphilis has three stages; symptoms often are painless and unseen. The incubation period before the first stage is anywhere from 10 to 90 days after coming into contact with an infected person, says Chris Reynolds, disease investigator for the Southern Nevada Health District. The first stage begins with a chancer sore. It’s painless and, after about three weeks, will go away on its own. Without treatment, it will advance to the second stage, a rash, which can appear anywhere on the skin, Reynolds says, and may be painless. That stage lasts an average of three weeks. There are no symptoms in the third stage and the person is not infectious, but by that point, the bacteria is causing internal damage. Syphillis is curable at any stage but, once it progresses past stage two, any damage to the body is permanent, Reynolds says.
