Can You Get a Syphilis Sore on Your Hand? According to data pulled from 2024 statistics on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), provided by the Centers for Disease Control, Knoxville ranked 31st of 100 U.S. cities with the highest rates of disease. Across the South, the rates are skyrocketing. In the 1950s rates of syphilis were high, but by 2000 – 2001, they had dropped to historic lows. Since then, however, rates have been increasing. Today ...