Alberta’s sexually transmitted infection rate falls: report
Overall rates of new cases of sexually transmitted infections fell in Alberta in 2010 for the first time in six years.
The 2010 annual report on notifiable sexually transmitted infections recorded 16,298 cases in Alberta, down about five per cent from a peak of 17,217 cases in 2009.
There were 192 newly diagnosed cases of HIV in 2010, down from 219 cases in 2009 and 233 cases in 2008. That’s one of the lowest HIV rates in the last decade, with a rate of 5.2 cases per 100,000, second lowest since 2003, when the rate was 5.1 cases per 100,000.
The number of AIDS cases is the lowest since 1987, with 30 newly diagnosed cases in 2010. That’s down from the 1994 peak of 134 new AIDS cases.
“Encouraged by these numbers, we are going to continue our work and our focus as a government on raising public awareness,” said Health Minister Fred Horne. “Over the past few years, the province has taken a lot of criticism about having some of the highest STI and HIV rates in Canada.”
The provincial government launched a five-year plan in May 2011 — with $4 million annually for the next three years — to reduce sexually transmitted infection rates to counteract alarms sounded by public health doctors, who warned of a syphilis crisis as early as 2007. Between 2005 and March 31, 2011, 25 babies were born with confirmed congenital syphilis; nine of them died and one is blind. During the same period, 56 adults were diagnosed with neurosyphilis, of which 18 have permanent vision loss and one is blind.
Last summer’s Plentyofsyph.com campaign, during which the province launched a witty but edgy fake dating website profiling people with oozing sores and infections, saw a 17-per-cent rise in visits and testing at provincial clinics for sexually transmitted infections in the summer and fall.
Rates were edging down even before that awareness campaign. In 2010, the number of syphilis cases fell to 168 cases, down almost 40 per cent from 279 in 2009.
The newest figures include two infected babies.
Data from 2011 won’t be available until June or July because followup tests are often needed to confirm results. A preliminary peek at the statistics so far shows a continuing downward trend.
“The ultimate goal remains clear. The best possible number for the outcome for this strategy is zero: zero new cases, zero new babies dying, and zero chance of infection,” Horne said. “I do not think it is an issue that any government or any other minister of health in this country can afford to shy away from. … This work must continue.”
Dr. Andre Corriveau, medical officer of health for Alberta Health and Wellness, said more work needs to be done to reach high-risk groups, including people aged 15 to 24, men having sex with men and aboriginal people.
In Alberta in 2010, for instance, 82 per cent of all chlamydia cases and 74 per cent of gonorrhea cases involved people aged 15 to 29.
The HIV rate among First Nations was 22.2 out of 100,000 compared to 4.5 out of 100,000 in the nonaboriginal population. That’s down from 55 cases per 100,000 in 2000, but still five times higher than the non-aboriginal population.
“The battle’s not won yet,” Corriveau said, saying a new public awareness campaign is in the works that will continue to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to target certain groups. “That was the lesson learned from the 1990s, where we failed to refresh our messages collectively across the board. We were using 1980s messaging to kids who were living in 2010.”
Corriveau also said the province must watch for an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea, now tracking globally. In 2010, six of Alberta’s 1,188 gonorrhea cases were categorized as “failure to treat.” Failure to treat cases can result from individuals who don’t respond to normal oral medications, or when a physician has not prescribed the right medication for a particular infection.