(CNN) Susan Scutti, March 23, 2018 — Milwaukee is seeing an unexpected spike in cases of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, according to health officials.

There are high incidence rates in communities with larger vulnerable populations, including men who have sex with men, ethnic minorities, injection drug users and women, especially those who have been trafficked or who work in the sex trade, city Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia McManus said this week.

Three Milwaukee children born with syphilis were identified in 2017, McManus said. “It rarely occurs,” she said, and “the last known single case was in 2012.” This “sentinel event” — an unexpected and dramatic occurrence — is a cause for concern, she said.

Syphilis is the most serious bacterial STD. Left untreated, it can affect the brain, heart and other organs, ultimately leading to death.

via STD rates are rising in these US hot spots – CNN.