LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The number of syphilis cases reported by gay men in Los Angeles County has increased 62 percent, representing 360 new cases so far this year, officials said.

"The implications are that gay men are having more unprotected sex," said Karen Mall, director of prevention for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles.

Though syphilis is curable, it can cause serious complications for anyone who has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, she said.

"Syphilis can lead to neurological problems, blindness and even death," Mall said. "If you are HIV positive and contract syphilis, complications can come much sooner and be much more powerful."

Earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 68 percent increase in syphilis cases in California in 2001 compared with the year before.

Syphilis rates have been rising since the spring of 2000, Mall said.

Fighting the spread of syphilis is proving difficult because gay men may be tuning out after having heard safe sex messages for years, Mall said.

"Since AIDS has become treatable and people aren't dying in great numbers we've gotten complacent and safer sex is taking a back seat," said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

More testing centers and outreach programs are needed in order to stop the outbreak of syphilis cases, Weinstein said.

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