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WA Syphilis outbreak response

This page provides information regarding the infectious syphilis outbreaks affecting people living in the affected regions of Western Australia. The WA SORG is responsible for coordinating a statewide response to the increasing notifications of infectious syphilis that are being experienced in WA.

An infectious syphilis outbreak was identified in the Kimberley region in mid-2014 with related clusters identified in mid-2018 in the Pilbara region and the Goldfields in mid-2019. In mid-2020 the Chief Health Officer authorised a state-wide public health response to infectious syphilis in identified at-risk populations after increased cases emerged in the Perth metropolitan area and South West region. Of concern is the increasing occurrence of congenital syphilis.

At-risk populations in the following regions include:

  • Kimberley – Aboriginal people
  • Pilbara - Aboriginal people
  • Goldfields - Aboriginal people
  • Midwest - Aboriginal people
  • South West – young Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal heterosexual people, people who use methamphetamine and/ or inject drugs, people who have sex with men who have sex with men (MSM)
  • Metropolitan area – young Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, people experiencing homelessness, people who use methamphetamine and/ or inject drugs, culturally and linguistically diverse people, people who have sex with MSM

NOTE: There is a high rate of syphilis transmission among MSM across WA. Strategies to control infectious syphilis in this population pre-date, and are outside the scope of, the WA SORG.

National response

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) Governance Group has developed a National strategic approach for an enhanced response to the disproportionately high rates of STI and BBV in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Supporting the Strategic Approach is an Action Plan, which is the Enhanced response to addressing STI (and BBV) in Indigenous populations.

These documents, and additional information on the national response, are available at Australian Government Department of Health Infectious Syphilis Outbreak (external site).

In April 2015, a Multijurisdictional Syphilis Outbreak Working Group (MJSO) of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) (external site) was formed in response to this ongoing outbreak among young Aboriginal people living in remote areas of northern Australia.

The MJSO, with representatives from affected jurisdictions, sexual health physicians, experts in Aboriginal sexual health and the Australian Government Department of Health, advised governments to coordinate the public health response for the purpose of outbreak control and prevention of congenital syphilis.

WA Syphilis Outbreak Response Group (WA SORG)

The Western Australian Syphilis Outbreak Response Group (WA SORG) was formed in response to the syphilis outbreak among Aboriginal people in outbreak affected regions of WA. The WA SORG was formed and the first meeting held in August 2018.

The long term aim of the WA SORG is to control the outbreak of syphilis among communities in WA using partnership strategies that, wherever possible, are applicable to the sustainable control measures for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and promotion of sexual health in WA communities.

Working groups

Five working groups sit under the WA SORG: 

  • Prevention, education and community engagement
  • Workforce development
  • Testing, treatment and contact tracing
  • Surveillance and reporting
  • Antenatal and postnatal care

They are responsible for progressing key actions related to their priority areas and are activated as required.

Sexual health regional coordinators

Regional sexual health coordinator positions are in place in the Goldfields, Kimberley and Pilbara regions. The role of the regional positions are to provide support to sexual health programs, guidance and expertise to health professionals working in the field. Specific tasks for the role include:

  • organising and/or facilitating orientation to the sexual health program for new staff working in the region
  • designing and implementing sexual health promotion strategies
  • Coordinating and/or providing education on sexual health and sexually transmissible infections to health service providers

Contact details for regional coordinators

Boorloo Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9222 8599
Email: NM.MCDCTeam@health.wa.gov.com

Goldfields Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9080 8200
Email: WACHSGoldfieldsCommunicableDiseaseControl@health.wa.gov.au

Great Southern Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9842 7500
Email: WACHSGreatSouthernCommunicableDiseaseControl@health.wa.gov.au

Kimberley Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9194 1630
Email: WACHSKimberleyCommunicableDiseaseControl@health.wa.gov.au 

Midwest Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9956 1980
Email: WACHSMidwestCommunicableDiseaseControl@health.wa.gov.au

Pilbara Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9174 1660
Email: WACHSPilbaraCommunicableDiseaseControl@health.wa.gov.au

South West Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9781 2359
Email: WACHSSouthwestCommunicableDiseaseControl@health.wa.gov.au

Wheatbelt Public Health Unit
Tel: (08) 9690 1720
Email: WACHSWheatbeltCommunicableDiseaseControl@health.wa.gov.au

Communiques
Resources

Resources for the workforce:

Resource Author/s Target workforce
Quick guide for testing and treatment of syphilis  WA Department of Health Medical professionals
Syphilis decision making tool ASHM Medical professionals
Update on syphilis WA Department of Health and AHCWA All professionals
The Good GP Podcast - syphilis The Good GP Podcast and North Metropolitan Health Service GPs
Goldfields regional syphilis project - case study Goldfields Public Health Unit All professionals
Kimberley sexual health orientation video KAMS People working with remote communities
Kimberley sexual health orientation video - case study KAMS People working with remote communities
Pilbara baby baskets program - case study Pilbara Public Health Unit All professionals 
Oral presentations of syphilis Derbarl Yerrigan  Medical professionals
Injection technique for administering benzathine penicillin treatment for syphilis  WA Department of Health Medical professionals
Equipment in a syphilis testing bag poster WA Department of Health Professionals who do outreach testing
Young Deadly Free - health professional resources Young Deadly Free Professionals working with young Aboriginal people 
Syphilis elimination - facilitator prompt sheet WACHS WACHS staff

 

Resources for community 

Resource Author Target populations 
Syphilis in pregnancy - Pregnancy Handheld Record WA Department of Health and Women and Newborn Health Service Pregnant people
Syphilis testing in pregnancy booklet North Metropolitan Health Service Pregnant people 
Congenital syphilis information sheet North Metropolitan Health Service Pregnant people 
We need to yarn about syphilis WA Department of Health Everyone
What is an STI? WA Department of Health Everyone
Young Deadly Free resources Young Deadly Free Young Aboriginal people

 

For posters, radio adverts and social media content look under the 'Campaigns' accordion.

Watch the syphilis treatment video

Syphilis videoconference series

 Video conference title and link  Presenter/s  Categories
 2024
 Syphilis Specimen Collection  Dr Hannah Gooding  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Midwest Antenatal Audit and QI Changes  Dr Lydia Brockman-Drake  Antenatal and postnatal, Surveillance and reporting 
 Changes to the WA Syphilis Point-of-Care Testing Program  Stephen Boccaletti  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 2023
 Outreach Surge Testing Program in Metropolitan Perth  Joanne O'Dea   Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Pilbara Baby Basket Program  Laura Moylon  Antenatal and postnatal
 2022
 Impact of Testing Strategies on the Infectious Syphilis Outbreak  Dr Richard Gray  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 WA Syphilis Outbreak Response Action Plan Progress  Matthew Bacon and Stephen Boccaletti  Surveillance and reporting
 Assessment and Management of Congenital Syphilis in Children  Dr Tim Ford  Antenatal and postnatal
 Syphilis Treatment Refresher  Dr Lewis Marshall  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Syphilis Training and Resources  Rudie Marshall-Lang and Matthew Bacon  Workforce development 
 2021 
 Syphilis in Primary Care  Dr Lara Roeske  Workforce development, Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Congenital Syphilis Review Summary Report Findings  Dr Donna Mak   Antenatal and postnatal 
 RISE Framework to Improve Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes  Prof Sue Kildea and Prof Yvette Roe  Antenatal and postnatal
 Asymptomatic STI Screening in Emergency Departments  Jan Marie Grantham and Chantelle Pears   Testing, treatment and contact tracing 
 Congenital Syphilis Case Reviews  Dr Donna Mak  Antenatal and postnatal
 Syphilis and At-Risk Populations  Dr Andrew Davies and Leanne Myers  Community engagement, education and prevention
 Surveillance and Reporting  Jonathan Rodrigues  Surveillance and reporting 
 Community Based Sexual Health Education   Sunni Friello  Community engagement, education and prevention
 Syphilis Testing at the Ngaanyatjarra Health Service  Roisin Steward  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 2020
 Interpreting Syphilis Results  Dr Christne Dykstra   Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Question From the Field  Dr Lewis Marshall and Jan-Marie Grantham  Workforce development
 Symptoms and Defining Stages of Syphilis   Dr Christine Dykstra  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Contact Tracing in Regional and Remote Areas  Rudie Marshall-Lang  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Syphilis Case Scenarios*  Dr Donna Mak  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Syphilis Point-of-Care Testing  Matthew Bacon   Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 2019    
 Syphilis Serology, Interpretation of Results and Treatment  Dr Lewis Marshall  Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Antenatal Testing, Treatment and Management  Dr Donna Mak  Antenatal and postnatal, Testing, treatment and contact tracing
 Orientation of the Syphilis Outbreak and the Public Health Response  Dr Paul Armstrong  Workforce development, Surveillance and reporting 

*Further to discussion during the session it should be noted that on slide 27, the patient needs benzathine penicillin weekly for 3 weeks because they have syphilis of unknown duration (no symptoms, positive syphilis serology and no previous syphilis test result). Therefore, it’s important to be cautious and treat the patient as though they have had syphilis for >2years.

Training / events calendar

A range of training and information sessions have been planned to support community health workers in sexual health.

ASHM host an online training module of the syphilis outbreak

SHQ offer a variety of non-syphilis specific sexual health training for a variety of health workers. If this is of interest, you can find their training calendar at on the website (external site).

ASHM also provide a range of trainings which can be accessed on their learning management website (external site).

The Bites series by AHCWA is a short, informative videoconference series around sexual health and blood-borne viruses which can be watched on their YouTube channel (external site).

Documents

Syphilis campaigns

There are a number of campaigns that have been used in Western Australia that relate to syphilis and STIs. These include:

More information

Communicable Disease Control Directorate
Address: Level 3A, 189 Royal Street, East Perth 6004 WA
Phone: (08) 9222 2131
shbbvp@health.wa.gov.au

Last reviewed: 01-12-2023
Produced by

Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Program

wa.gov.au