A national outbreak of a sexually transmitted infection has been declared.
Health officials are warning 'a large reservoir' of cases many be undiagnosed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Untreated syphilis can cause serious health problems to the heart, brain, eyes and nervous system.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre says early infectious syphilis cases were rising here before the Covid crisis.
There was a small decrease last year, coinciding with the first wave of the pandemic.
But the HPSC says cases are increasing again and are, in fact, exceeding the numbers seen before the Covid crisis.
242 cases were reported in the first four months of this year.
Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow accounted for 79 per cent of cases, followed by 9 per cent in Cork and Kerry.
91 per cent were in males and 9 per cent were in females.
The HPSC says there is also a potentially large undiagnosed reservoir of syphilis infections, as many STI services have been operating at a reduced level due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
