Sexually transmitted infections increase in Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s nowhere near getting recent increases in sexually transmitted diseases under control, state health officials said Thursday after releasing data that showed infections continued to trend up in 2017.
It’s not only an Oklahoma problem, though. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that the number of infections continued to climb nationwide, with no sign of a decrease on the horizon.
Syphilis infections climbed about 36 percent from 2016 to 2017, and gonorrhea cases were up about 20 percent, said Jan Fox, director of HIV/STD services at the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
The department recorded 31,799 cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia last year, which was about 2,000 more than in 2016. HIV cases were relatively stable, however.
Unfortunately, it appears the increase represents more infections, not just that more people are getting tested, Fox said.
The rise in syphilis cases appears to be connected to drug use, either
because people are making riskier sexual choices while under the influence, or because some are trading sex for drugs, Fox said.
An outbreak was initially identified in Oklahoma County, but syphilis is a concern across the state, she said.
County health departments try to trace the partners of people who test positive for HIV and syphilis, which both can kill a person if left untreated.
It isn’t possible to do the same for chlamydia and gonorrhea, because there aren’t enough specialists to handle such a large number of cases, Fox said.
“Syphilis is getting to the point that it’s stretching our resources,” she said.
The increase in gonorrhea and chlamydia appears not to have so strong a connection to drugs.
People seem to be less concerned about taking precautions to avoid STIs than they were a few decades ago, because most infections can be cured with antibiotics, and even HIV can be managed with drugs now, Fox said.
“People aren’t as worried, so they’re not limiting their partners, they’re not using protection,” she said. “A lot of people haven’t seen others who suffered, so it’s not really on their mind.”
Testing and treatment are available at county health departments. People who test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea can receive up to three “partner packs” with antibiotics and information to take home, Fox said.
Sometimes, partners don’t come in for testing and treatment, so the person who sought treatment ends up getting infected again.
If the medication comes home, the odds that both partners complete their course of treatment are better, she said.
While drug treatment for STIs is effective, it’s still important to catch them early — and ideally, not to get one in the first place.
Antiviral medications mean that HIV is no longer a death sentence, but some studies suggest that it still may take a toll on the body, causing people who have it to develop other chronic conditions earlier than they otherwise might have.
If syphilis is left untreated for a long time, it can damage the heart and nervous system.
Babies born to women who are infected are at risk of developing problems like hearing loss or intellectual disability and have a higher risk of dying in infancy.
For that reason, the Health Department recommends that all pregnant women get tested in the first and third trimester, and get treated with antibiotics if they test positive, Fox said.
Chlamydia can cause infertility in women. Complications are rarer in men, but not unheardof, according to the CDC. Babies born to women with untreated chlamydia are at risk of being born prematurely or developing lung or eye infections.
Gonorrhea can cause infertility in both sexes. Babies born to mothers with untreated gonorrhea can develop eye infections.
Antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea has been reported in some places, but fortunately it doesn’t appear to be spreading in Oklahoma at this point, Fox said.
For more information about testing and treatment, contact your county health department or the HIV/STD service, 405-271-4636, or visit hivstd.health. ok.gov.