Canada experiencing a 'syphilis plague'

Although some Canadian health officials say that reported cases of syphilis were rare in the early 1990s, the prevalence of the sexually transmitted disease (STD) has yet again shot up, and it is disproportionately affecting men.

A recent article published by the Toronto Star reported that cases of syphilis increased 10-fold between 1993 and 2009. There were 1,683 diagnoses of the disease during the latter year, and men accounted for more than 1,500 of the reports, the news provider explained.

Health experts who talked to the news source attributed this increase to more individuals failing to use condoms consistently or correctly. There has also been instances of gay Canadian men practicing so-called "sero-sorting," which is when two men with HIV engage in unprotected intercourse because they don't consider the possibility that they can still spread other STDs like syphilis to one another.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that more than 36,000 cases of syphilis are reported each year in the U.S. While some individuals who are infected with the STD may not show symptoms, syphilis can cause serious health complications when left untreated, and pregnant women can pass it on to their babies in utero or during delivery.