U.S. Chlamydia Infections Hit All-Time High

U.S. Chlamydia Infections Hit All-Time High
TUESDAY, Nov. 13 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americansnewly infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) continues torise, federal health officials reported Tuesday, with one infection inparticular -- chlamydia - hitting a record million-plus reported new casesannually.
Numbers from 2006 show that cases of chlamydia, as well as gonorrheaand syphilis, continued to increase in the United States for the secondyear in a row, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC).
The 1,030,911 new cases in 2006 for chlamydia, which can cause pelvicinflammatory disease in women as well as infertility, mark "an all-timehigh" for the disease in the United States, said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr.,director of the Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention at theCDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TBPrevention.
The CDC now estimates that there are 19 million new cases of STDsdiagnosed in the United States each year. Almost half of these occur amongpeople 15 to 24 years of age, and they cost the health care system anestimated at $14.7 billion annually.
"STDs pose a serious and ongoing threat to millions of Americans," saidDouglas during a teleconference on Tuesday.
"Young women, racial and ethnic populations, and men who have sex withmen are particularly hard-hit by these diseases," Douglas said. "STDs canhave serious health consequences, particularly if they are undiagnosed andleft untreated"
In women, chlamydia and gonorrhea can lead to pelvic inflammatorydisease and infertility. Syphilis can cause neuralgic damage and fatalinfections in babies, Douglas added. In addition, all three of thesediseases increase the risk for transmitting and developing HIV, the virusthat causes AIDS, he said.
"This is a hidden epidemic that most people are not aware of -- howmany STDs are out there -- the risk that they run and the need for gettingregular testing and treatment and having their partners treated," Dr.Stuart Berman, chief of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch in theDivision of STD Prevention at CDC, said during the teleconference.
"We'd like to see these rates going down," Berman added. "That they arenot going down says there should be greater awareness by the public andmaybe a little more attention paid both by the public and theirproviders."
The data are included in the new CDC report: Trends in ReportableSexually Transmitted Diseases in the United States, 2006.
Chlamydia is the most common reportable infectious disease in theUnited States, according to the report, with more than a million casesreported in 2006. In 2006, the national rate of reported chlamydia was347.8 cases per 100,000 people. That's an increase of 5.6 percent from2005, officials said.
Young women 15 to 19 had the highest chlamydia rate, Douglas said."The CDC recommends that all women under 26 be screened for chlamydiaannually," he added.
The increase appears to be due to more screening and the use of moresensitive tests. But the CDC doesn't rule out an actual increase ininfections, Douglas noted.
Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported infectious disease inthe United States, with 358,366 cases reported in 2006, the report found.The rate for gonorrhea in 2006 was 120.9 cases per 100,000 people --that's a 5.5 increase since 2005, and the second year in which a bump innew cases was seen, he said.
The highest rates of gonorrhea were observed in the South, Douglassaid, but they also increased in the West. In addition, gonorrhea isbecoming resistant to some antibiotics, he said. For that reason, the CDCno longer recommends drugs called fluoroquinolones for treating thedisease, he said.
The increase in cases of gonorrhea is disheartening, because it comesafter a 74 percent drop in reported cases between 1975 and 1997, the CDCnoted.
Both gonorrhea and chlamydia are underreported and underdiagnosed, theexperts said. "Approximately twice as many new infections are estimated tooccur each year as are reported," according to the CDC.
Since reaching a record low in 2000, the rate of new syphilis cases hasbeen on the rise. From 2005 to 2006, the rate of syphilis increased 13.8percent, to 3.3 cases per 100,000 people. In 2006, there were 9,756 casesof syphilis reported, up from 8,724 in 2006, Douglas said.
The increase in the number of cases between 2005 and 2006 was largelydriven by men who have sex with men, according to the CDC. "In 2006, 64percent of cases were among men who have sex with men," Douglas said.
In addition, the rate of syphilis increased among women from 0.9 to 1.0per 100,000. There was also a small increase in cases of syphilistransmitted from mothers to newborns, from 8.3 per 100,000 in 2005 to 8.5per 100,000 in 2006, the CDC reported.
The racial disparity in who is most affected by STDs continues. BlackAmericans are more than eight times more likely to have chlamydia. Infact, 46 percent of all new cases are among blacks, Douglas said.
"The racial disparities in the diagnosis of gonorrhea are stark,"Douglas said. Blacks are 18 times more likely to get gonorrhea comparedwith whites. The rate of gonorrhea increased 8.3 percent from 2005 to2006, and blacks account for 69 percent of all new cases.
The rates of syphilis are also higher among blacks, who were six timesmore likely than whites to develop the disease. Between 2005 and 2006, therate of syphilis among blacks increased 16.5 percent. The biggest increasewas seen among black men, the CDC noted.
In 2006, the rate of syphilis among black women was 16 times higherthan among white women. In 2006, 43.2 case of syphilis occurred amongblack Americans and 34.8 percent were among whites, Douglas noted.
One expert believes sex education programs, along with condom use,could go a long way to reducing the country's STD incidence.
"Most people will be stunned to learn that STDs affect nearly 20million Americans each year," said Dr. David Katz, director of thePrevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "This isan entirely preventable plague," he added.
Consistent use of condoms would prevent almost all cases of STDs, alongwith HIV and unintended pregnancies, Katz added.
And sex education programs do not promote sexual activity, Katz added.
"They do prevent disease," he said.