Confirmed Cases Decrease but Syphilis Spread Expands in Japan... Annual Infections May Exceed 7,000

An official is working wearing a mask at the security checkpoint of Narita International Airport in Japan.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Reports have emerged that syphilis infections are explosively increasing in Japan.

On the 10th, Nikkan Gendai reported that the number of syphilis infections in Japan this year until October reached 6,398, a 34% increase compared to 4,782 during the same period last year. This number even surpasses last year's total syphilis infections of 5,784, making it virtually certain that the total number of syphilis infections this year will reach the 7,000 range if this trend continues.

Syphilis is a representative sexually transmitted disease mainly spread through sexual contact, and it is currently spreading not only in major cities but also in regional small and medium-sized cities across Japan. In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the number of infections until October last year was 1,312, but it increased to 2,085 during the same period this year. Additionally, in the regional city of Oita Prefecture, the number of infections, which was only 5 in the entire year of 2014, rose to 44 by mid-last month.

In Japan, syphilis spread explosively during the chaotic period immediately after World War II in 1948, with annual infections reaching 220,000. Since then, the spread significantly decreased with the distribution of the antibiotic penicillin, and the number of infections, which was 12,000 annually in 1967, dropped to around 500 annually by 1997.

However, syphilis cases in Japan have been on the rise again since 2011. Within Japan, this is attributed to factors such as the influx of foreigners due to the revitalization of the tourism industry and diversification of dating methods using various social networking services (SNS). It is also analyzed that since syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease spread through sexual contact, various sex industries serve as the main infection channels.

Japanese experts explain that the sharp increase in syphilis infections this year is also due to the increased use of entertainment establishments this year, which had been subdued due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. However, there is currently no clear evidence confirming the cause of the increase in syphilis infections.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.