(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago health officials are reporting an outbreak of a curable sexually-transmitted disease on the city’s Far South Side.
Between Sept. 9 and Nov. 4, there were five confirmed cases of syphilis among older African American males in Roseland, the Chicago Department of Public Health said in a news release.
All of the infected heterosexual men reported having oral sex with female sex workers, CDPH said.
Health officials are alerting the medical community in Roseland and encouraging people to get tested if they are at risk or exhibiting the disease’s wide range of symptoms.
Syphilis can cause serious health consequences that include neurological damage, blindness, dementia and death. The disease can cause permanent harm to fetuses.
It can be treated with penicillin.
CDPH offers free testing for sexually transmitted infections at the agency’s STI Specialty clinics, including one in Roseland, at 200 E. 115th St.
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