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CDC releases annual STD report

1/13/2009

ATLANTA The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday released its annual report regarding sexually transmitted diseases—finding that STD are most prevalent among women and minorities.

The report, Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2007, showed that cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the United States exceeded 1.4 million in 2007, making these specific STD’s the most commonly reported infectious diseases.

The report also found continued increases in syphilis, a venereal disease once on the verge of elimination. Syphilis began re-emerging as a threat in 2001 and increased 15.2 percent between 2006 and 2007.

“The widespread occurrence of these diseases should serve as a stark reminder that STDs remain a serious health threat in the United States, especially for women and racial and ethnic minorities,” said John Douglas, Jr., director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. “Left untreated, chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause infertility, affecting a woman’s chance to bear children later in life. Such a severe consequence is entirely avoidable, if as a nation we work together to increase the use of proven prevention tools and make them widely available to those who need them.”

Women continue to bear a disproportionate burden of the long-term health consequences of STDs, the agency stated. In 2007, the chlamydia rate among women was three times that of men (543.6 cases per 100,000 women, compared to 190 cases per 100,000 men). The gonorrhea rate was also higher among women (123.5 per 100,000 women, compared to 113.7 per 100,000 among men).

If left untreated, up to 40 percent of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections in women can result in pelvic inflammatory disease — a condition that causes as many as 50,000 women to become infertile each year. Untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea can also cause ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, and other serious health problems.

The report found that there were more than 1.1 million chlamydia cases reported in 2007, up from about one million in 2006, making it the largest number of cases ever reported to CDC for any condition. Gonorrhea, the second most commonly reported infectious disease, had more than 350,000 cases reported in 2007. However, it is estimated that more than half of all new infections with chlamydia and gonorrhea continue to go undiagnosed, underscoring the importance of increased screening. CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for all sexually active women under 26 years old, and supports U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations to screen high-risk, sexually active women for gonorrhea.

CDC’s 2007 STD surveillance report also indicates ongoing racial disparities in the three most common reportable STDs, with African-Americans bearing the greatest burden. While representing 12 percent of the U.S. population, black men and women had about 70 percent of reported gonorrhea cases and almost half of all chlamydia and syphilis cases (48 percent and 46 percent respectively) in 2007, the CDC said.

STDs take an especially heavy toll on black women 15 to 19 years of age, who account for the highest rates of both chlamydia (9,646.7 per 100,000 population) and gonorrhea (2,955.7 per 100,000 population) of any group. STDs in this age group are of particular concern because of the potential threat of these two diseases to a woman’s fertility.

Studies have shown that one of the most important social determinants of sexual health is socioeconomic status. Higher rates of poverty among blacks than whites, and socioeconomic barriers to quality healthcare and STD prevention and treatment services have been associated with higher prevalence and incidence of STDs among racial and ethnic minorities.

“The racial disparities in rates of STDs are among the worst health disparities in the nation for any health condition,” Douglas said. “We must intensify efforts to reach these communities with needed screening and treatment services. Testing and the knowledge of infection is a critical first step toward reducing the continued consequences of these diseases.”

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