The Syphilis Outbreak In My Community: A Case Study

In 1932, the Public Health Service (PHS) began a study in the Tuskegee Institute to record the natural history of syphilis in hopes for finding treatment programs for blacks. It was called “Tuskegee study of untreated syphilis in the negro male”. The experiment was conducted on a group of 399 poor and illiterate African American sharecroppers. This disease was not however, revealed to them by the US government. The sharecroppers were told they were going to receive treatment for bad blood. The study that was carried out proved to be one of the most horrifying studies carried out that disregarded the basic ethical principles of conduct, it disregarded human life especially the African American life, blacks were not considered patients but subjects, they were considered as clinical materials instead of sick people. The Tuskegee experiment was identified as “the longest non-therapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history”.

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Study participants were told nothing of their infection with syphilis. Treatment was withheld from participants, and no satisfactory treatment given for satisfactory recovery to a few. Public Health System officials denied study participants treatment and prevented other medical professionals and agencies from supplying medication and treatment.

The doctors and the nurse were more interested in gathering scientific data than showing concern for these African men’s human rights. There was no concern for the ethical issues involving these victims. The syphilis scientific study was written about in medical journals for many years but community outrage did not happen until a reporter exposed the study to the general public. The scientific syphilis study ended after it was exposed to the public.

In order to observe the natural progression of syphilis, the U.S. Public Health Service began what is known as the Tuskegee Study in 1932. The study was held in Macon County, Alabama and there was a total of 600 African American men observed, 399 had latent syphilis and 201 served as an uninfected control group. At the start of the study, there was no cure for syphilis, only medicine available to treat symptoms; however, by 1947, there was a cure, penicillin, but it was never offered to any of the participants, nor were the participants aware that they were not being treated with available drugs. The study lasted for forty years, ending in 1972 and ultimately proving nothing, only once it was exposed by a researcher. In this paper, I am going

Before the Florida health department report or send in any information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they will make sure that his or her information is kept private, they will not disclose any personal information about the person who is tested positive for syphilis. The law that governs this is the "Florida Administrative Code 64D-3, entitled Control of Communicable Diseases and Conditions, which may significantly Affect Public Health, is the mandate that empowers the Department of Health to record communicable diseases and dictates when and how

During The Early 1930’s through early 70’s the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) experimented on 399 black men with Last stage syphilis. This conducted experiment was unfair and the participants in this experiment were grossly taken advantage of.

Syphilis, which was once thought of as a historic sexually transmitted infection (STI), is making a strong come back in the United States. Recent attention has been given to the state of Oregon where syphilis rates are increasing at a rapid rate. Klamath County, a small rural area in Oregon, does not show the highest rates of syphilis in the state, however its rates have increased dramatically over the last five years. Due to the increase prevalence and severe side effects of the infection, Oregon has taken action to educate the public in hopes of reducing the growing rate of infection.

This paper discusses an experiment meant to cure and learn more syphilis, a venereal disease spread through sexual intercourse or from a mother to a child during pregnancy. It discusses the bacterium that causing the disease and the blood test that was created to diagnose it. The Division of Venereal diseases was eventually created in the United States Public Health Service to help study and control sexually transmitted diseases. A fund was created in the South to help control syphilis and help develop health programs for African Americans. A control study that was also designed to treated syphilis was eventually created. After realizing the alarming outbreak of syphilis,

The primary goal of this mandates by the states is to identify the individual or individuals with symptoms of syphilis and interrupt the spread of the disease. However, there are some states that do not enforced the adherence to report cases of persons who acquired syphilis. Under Florida Statutes and Chapter 64D-3, Florida Administrative Code (FAC), practitioners, hospitals, medical facilities, schools, nursing homes, state institutions or other facilities providing health services are required to notify to the local county health department (CHD) and Florida Department of Health (DOH) within one business day results from syphilis suspected individuals.

Women that have syphilis and go untreated can be at risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, blindness or stroke. There has even been a rise in newborns they are born with syphilis. There are several reasons into why there is an increase in the Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Some of the reasons are both race and gender have multiple correlates that may account for these differences, including cultural expectations, experience of sexual victimization, socio-economic status, access to community resources, education, and poor family environment. There are several myths out there about sexually transmitted disease such catching it from a toilet seat, you can’t get an STD the first time having sex, or that only people that have sex with multiple partners get sexually transmitted

In 1932, the United States Public Health Service initiated a research study to determine the natural progression of untreated syphilis in African-American males in Macon County, Alabama. This experiment which lasted from 1932 to 1972 comprised of 412 men with untreated syphilis and 204 uninfected men who served as the controls. This study of “untreated syphilis in the Negro male,” is a tragic, nontherapeutic experiment in research which has violated multiple ethical principles and human rights.

The purpose of evaluating public health surveillance systems is to ensure that problems of public health importance are being monitored efficiently and effectively (CDC, 2001). Results that are generated from surveillance systems are not always free of errors; therefore, an evaluation is essential to produce a high quality STI surveillance system for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV-AIDS, and Syphilis programs. Evaluating these errors and shortcomings will allow for higher accuracy in results and will further lend a hand in disseminating findings in an efficient and timely fashion. The analysis being provided, as well as other reports, will drastically play a role in helping Summerville with the burden of STIs. It is important to assess the quality of the surveillance system in order to maintain relevant surveillance data, otherwise time, money, and effort will have gone to waste.

Approximately 400 of the men had syphilis and 200 did not at the start of the study. The purpose of the study was to record the history and progression of untreated syphilis, which at the time had no treatment. However, later in 1947 when a treatment (penicillin) was found and proven effective against syphilis, the men were never told nor given the medication. It was withheld from them. As a result, many of the participants, their wives, children and others had been infected and untreated. As news of the study spread, it led to public outrage and an advisory panel was created. (Brandt, 1978)

Syphilis is a contagious disease caused by the Treponema pallidum bacteria. Its primary means of transfer is through sexual activity that includes oral and anal sex. Though our society can now cure the disease with antibiotics, there are no united consensus as to its origin in fifteenth century Europe. Though the Columbian theory is the most accepted theory used to explain the mysterious arrival of the disease, two other prominent contending theories exists. They are the Pre-Columbian theory, and the Evolutionary theory. Within each theory can be found a historical account of what may have contributed to the spread of the disease.