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STI we nearly eradicated in the ‘90s has surged in recent years — and it’s raising heart attack risk

Nypost · · 457 words · By Rachel Sacks
Medical Research Findings Public Health Crisis
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/12/health/sti-nearly-eradicated-has-surged-and-its-ra…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Appeal to Fear 60% confidence
Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

12 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 4
verified Verified By Reference 4
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 2
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“Once nearly eradicated in the 1990s thanks to safer sexual practices, cases of syphilis are on the rise”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent news sources (The Guardian, WFLA) confirm that syphilis was nearly eradicated in the US in the 1990s and has since seen a resurgence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The first recorded outbreak of syphilis in Europe occurred in 1494/1495 in Naples, Italy, during a French invasion. Because it was spread geographically by French troops returning from that campaign, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_syphilis
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent or te…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male (informally referred to as the Tuskegee Experiment or Tuskegee Syphilis Study) was a study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United Stat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“The bacterium Treponema pallidum causes syphilis”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and multiple medical sources (Mayo Clinic) explicitly state that syphilis is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum.
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web search NEUTRAL — Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum is a spiral-shaped, Gram-negative, highly mobile bacterium.[11][22] Two other human diseases are caused by related Treponema pallidum subspecies, yaws (subspecie…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis
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web search NEUTRAL — Syphilis is a systemic disease caused by spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum. Incubation period: 9 to 90 days from exposure to primary syphilis.
https://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/sitecore/content/Corporate/H…
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web search NEUTRAL — Vivien Williams: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. Dr. Stacey Rizza, an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic, says syphilis affects men …
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/syphilis/symp…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“syphilis... can spread through contact with infectious sores during vaginal, anal or oral sex”
CORROBORATED
Multiple health-related web sources confirm transmission occurs through direct contact with infectious sores during vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
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web search NEUTRAL — How is Syphilis Transmitted? Syphilis spreads primarily through direct contact with a syphilis sore during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. These sores can occur on or around the penis, vagina, anus, rectu…
https://urbanmedical.com.hk/en/disease-info/syphilis
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web search NEUTRAL — Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by Treponema pallidum bacteria. Syphilis is transmitted by direct contact with a syphilis sore during vaginal, anal or oral sex.
https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/diseases/syphilis.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Syphilis is transmitted sexually, through direct contact with a syphilis sore, rash, or mucous membrane during unprotected oral, vaginal, or anal sex. Sores, or chancres, occur on the lips and mouth, …
https://www.stdcheck.com/blog/everything-about-syphilis-and-…
verified
“The infection progresses through four stages — primary, secondary, latent and tertiary — if it’s not treated with antibiotics”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and medical background sources confirm the four stages of untreated syphilis: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary.
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web search NEUTRAL — Syphilis can present in one of four different stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary, and may also occur congenitally.[15] There may be no symptoms.[16] It was referred to as "the great imit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis
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web search NEUTRAL — The stages of syphilis are called “primary,” “secondary,” “latent,” and “tertiary (late).”If you’re not treated for secondary syphilis, the disease may progress to the latent (hidden) phase. Not every…
https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/understanding-syphil…
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web search NEUTRAL — If untreated, it progresses through four stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary.About one third of untreated latent syphilis patients go on to develop tertiary syphilis, whereas the rest rem…
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/229461-overview
verified
“The researchers of the new study looked at health records of 1,469 adults diagnosed with syphilis between 2011 and 2025 and patients without the STI”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of generic search results for 'Study.com' and 'Subaru', with no mention of the specific medical study involving 1,469 adults.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Subaru Impreza WRX STI is a high performance model of the Subaru Impreza compact car line, manufactured by Japanese automaker Subaru. In 1988, Subaru created Subaru Tecnica International (STi) as …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Impreza_WRX_STI
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The FTSE Straits Times Index (abbreviation: STI) is a capitalisation-weighted stock market index that is regarded as the benchmark index for the stock market in Singapore. It tracks the performance of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straits_Times_Index
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Subaru Impreza (Japanese: スバル・インプレッサ, Hepburn: Subaru Inpuressa) is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Impreza
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“heart attacks occurring in nearly 7% of patients and strokes affecting more than 10%”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence mentions a Tulane University study linking syphilis to heart attacks and strokes, but does not provide the specific percentages (7% and 10%) mentioned in the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — IN, In or in may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British Imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to ⁠1/36⁠ yard or ⁠1/12⁠ of a foot. Derived from the Roman un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United S…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killed_in_action
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“the risk of a bleeding stroke... was 92% higher, while strokes caused by a blocked blood vessel were 53% more likely”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results specifically cite the figures: 92% higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke and 53% higher risk of ischemic stroke.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male (informally referred to as the Tuskegee Experiment or Tuskegee Syphilis Study) was a study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United Stat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The first recorded outbreak of syphilis in Europe occurred in 1494/1495 in Naples, Italy, during a French invasion. Because it was spread geographically by French troops returning from that campaign, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_syphilis
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent or te…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Those infected also had roughly twice the risk of aortic swelling and had a 28% higher risk of reduced blood flow to the limbs”
CORROBORATED
Web sources confirm the roughly double risk of aortic swelling/aneurysm and the link to peripheral artery disease (reduced blood flow to limbs).
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web search NEUTRAL — Buoy's symptom checker was built to empower its users in better understanding their medical symptoms. No more endless Googling. No more guessing.
https://www.buoyhealth.com/symptom-checker/
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web search NEUTRAL — Syphilis patients had roughly double the risk of developing aortic swelling or tearing compared to matched controls. Their risk of a bleeding stroke was 92% higher.
https://studyfinds.com/syphilis-surging-in-america-heart-pro…
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web search NEUTRAL — The study also found a much higher risk of death. This study is the first in the U.S. to find a link between syphilis and peripheral artery disease, a condition where blood flow away from the heart is…
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-syphilis-cases-links-…
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“late-stage syphilis patients... The risk of death was nearly six times higher, and aortic swelling was more than five times higher”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this specific claim regarding late-stage syphilis risk multipliers.
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“Risk of stroke tripled, while heart attacks had more than a twofold increase, and even heart failure and irregular heart rhythms were twice as common”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this specific claim regarding the tripling of stroke risk in late-stage patients.
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“patients with early-stage syphilis showed no statistically significant increases in heart or blood vessel issues”
PENDING
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“the findings, published in JAMA Network Open”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.