Reported STD cases reach all time high
♦ Floyd County had a higher rate of gonorrhea than the state but slightly lower rates of chlamydia and syphilis.
Cases of sexually transmitted disease continue to climb, reaching an all-time high for the sixth consecutive year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data last week on STD cases reported nationwide. Georgia is in the top 20 states for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, the three most commonly reported STDS in 2019.
Floyd County had a higher rate of gonorrhea than the state as a whole but slightly lower rates of chlamydia and syphilis, according to Georgia Department of Public Health data.
Preliminary 2020 data suggests to CDC officials that many of the trends continued last year as well.
“Less than 20 years ago, gonorrhea rates in the U.S. were at historic lows, syphilis was close to elimination, and advances in chlamydia diagnostics made it easier to detect infections,” said Dr. Raul Romaguera, DMD, acting director for CDC’S Division of STD Prevention.
“That progress has since unraveled, and our STD defenses are down,” he added. “We must prioritize and focus our efforts to regain this lost ground.”
The newly released 2019 STD Surveillance Report found 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis — a nearly 30% increase in these reportable STDS between 2015 and 2019.
Georgia was 7th highest in the nation for chlamydia, at 648.8 cases per 100,000 people. Floyd County’s 510 cases equaled a rate of 517.8 per 100,000.
Alaska topped the list with its 6,254 cases equaling a rate of 848.1 cases per 100,000 residents. It was followed by Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, New Mexico and North Carolina. Alabama ranked 8th highest, with 31,228 reported cases, equal to 638.9 cases per 100,000.
Floyd County’s rate of gonorrhea infections outpaced both Georgia’s and the nation’s. Its 259 cases were equal to 262.9 per 100,000 people.
Georgia ranked 19th, with a rate of 202.1 cases per 100,000. The nation’s 616,392 total gonorrhea cases equaled a rate of 188.4 cases in every 100,000 residents.
The number of primary and secondary syphilis cases were lower, with a rate of 11.8 per 100,000 nationwide. Georgia’s 1,750 reported cases put it at No. 8 with a rate of 16.6 per 100,000.
Floyd County had 10 reported cases of syphilis in 2019, a rate of 10.2 per 100,000 residents.
The sharpest increase nationally was in cases of syphilis among newborns, which nearly quadrupled between 2015 and 2019. Floyd County had no reported cases of congenital syphilis in 2019. Statewide, there were 54 cases.
STDS can have serious health consequences according to the CDC. People with these infections do not always experience disease symptoms but, if left untreated, some can increase the risk of HIV infection, or can cause chronic pelvic pain, pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, severe pregnancy and newborn complications, and infant death.
STD burden not equal
The burden of STDS increased overall and across many groups in 2019. But it continued to hit racial and ethnic minority groups, gay and bisexual men, and youth the hardest.
STD rates for Black people were 5 to 8 times that of non-hispanic White people, according to the CDC report, and 3 to 5 times higher for American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people. For Hispanic or Latino people, it was 1 to 2 times that of non-hispanic White people.
The report notes that gay and bisexual men make up nearly half the 2019 primary and secondary syphilis cases and their gonorrhea rates were 42 times that of heterosexual men in some areas.
Young people aged 15 to 24 years accounted for 61% of the chlamydia cases and 42% of the gonorrhea cases.
“Focusing on hard-hit populations is critical to reducing disparities,” said Jo Valentine, associate director of the STD Prevention Division’s Office of Health Equity.
“To effectively reduce these disparities, the social, cultural, and economic conditions that make it more difficult for some populations to stay healthy must be addressed,” she said. “These include poverty, unstable housing, drug use, lack of medical insurance or regular medical provider, and high burden of STDS in some communities.”
COVID-19 highlights needs
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, reductions in STD screening, treatment, prevention, and partner services contributed to increases for many years. Since the pandemic began, large numbers of STD program staff at the state and local level have been deployed to the COVID-19 response, which can lead to more delays in services.
According to a survey of health departments, as of January, about one-third of state and local STD program staff were still deployed to assist with COVID-19 response efforts. Staff also report burnout as they pivot from COVID-19 back to STD intervention and partner services.
“COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in public health preparedness due to weak infrastructure, an under-capacitated and under-resourced workforce, and limited surge capacity,” a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states.
The CDC is recommending several new ways to expand STD services, and they’re echoed in the recently released Sexually Transmitted Infections National Strategic Plan from the U.s.department of Health and Human Services.
Among them are STD express clinics, which provide walk-in testing and treatment without a full clinical exam.
Partnerships with pharmacies and retail health clinics can provide new access points, and telehealth/telemedicine is especially critical in rural areas.
“STDS will not wait for the pandemic to end, so we must rise to the challenge now,” Romaguera said. “These new data should create a sense of urgency and mobilize the resources needed, so that future reports can tell a different story.”