Medicine: Resurgent Syphilis: It Can Be Eradicated

Only five years after syphilis had apparently been conquered in the U.S. and was rapidly declining elsewhere, "the great pox" is making an unexpected comeback.

For the past two weeks agitated experts attending the World Forum on Syphilis and the International Congress of Dermatology in Washington have heard shocking estimates of the ravages of revitalized syphilis:

¶ Of 106 nations reporting to the World Health Organization, no fewer than 76 have a rising incidence of syphilis.

¶ In the U.S. the number of cases is still increasing. In the fiscal year that ended June 30,...