To the Editor: The incidence of syphilis is dramatically rising in Australia. As such, previously rare sequelae like syphilitic hepatitis are occurring more frequently, supported by a growing number of case reports in the literature.1 We present a typical case of syphilitic hepatitis and review the evolving at‐risk populations, to raise awareness of this potentially fatal yet highly treatable disease.
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- 1. Huang J, Lin S, Wan B, et al. A systematic literature review of syphilitic hepatitis in adults. J Clin Transl Hepatol 2018; 6: 306–309.
- 2. Kirby Institute. HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia: annual surveillance report 2018. Sydney: Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, 2018. https://kirby.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/kirby/report/KI_Annual-Surveillance-Report-2018.pdf (viewed Nov 2020).
- 3. Feher J, Somogyi T, Timmer M, et al. Syphilitic hepatitis: clinical, immunological and morphological aspects. Acta Med Acad Sci Hung 1975; 32: 155–161.
- 4. Manavi K, Dhasmana D, Cramb R. Prevalence of hepatitis in early syphilis among an HIV cohort. Int J STD AIDS 2012; 23: 4–6.
- 5. Hook E. Syphilis. Lancet 2017; 389: 1550–1557.
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