Syphilis showing alarming rise in county
County health officials will launch a radio and TV ad campaign Thursday in an effort to stem an alarming rise in syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The county’s annual number of new syphilis cases rose from 23 in 1997 to 312 last year.
When compared with U.S. case statistics from 2001 through 2006, San Diego County’s annual count climbed 800 percent while the national total went up roughly 60 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea cases in San Diego County also have increased in recent years.
On Wednesday, county health officials said:
The annual number of chlamydia cases increased from 10,249 in 2003 to 12,796 in 2007.
The annual total of gonorrhea cases increased from 1,972 cases in 2003 to 2,403 in 2007.
It’s unclear what is causing the burgeoning rates of sexually transmitted diseases.
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“A possible explanation for the increase in gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis cases could be that patients are not forthcoming about their sexual practices, making it difficult for their health providers to order appropriate tests,” county health officials said in a statement Wednesday.
People who don’t know they’re infected may not take precautions to prevent infecting others.
In November 2005, county and federal health officials discussed the possibility that the increase in STDs might be attributed mostly to a practice called “serosorting,” in which HIV-positive men have unprotected sex with other HIV-positive men. They forget – or perhaps don’t care – that they may be exposing themselves to serious venereal diseases.
Complacency might also be a factor among men having unsafe sex, health officials have said. These men may no longer see an AIDS diagnosis as a death sentence because a large number of effective drugs have prolonged the lives of HIV-infected people.
Statistics in 2005 showed that about eight of every 10 syphilis cases in San Diego County were diagnosed in men who had sex with men. Nationally, the figure was about six in 10. Updated data were not available Wednesday.
In recent years, county officials have made numerous efforts to educate gay and bisexual men about the risk of contracting STDs. The measures include sending messages to Web-based chat rooms where these men congregate and distributing safe-sex cards at places such as the annual San Diego Pride events.
Terry Cunningham, chief of the county’s HIV, STD and Hepatitis branch, said in 2005 that for some reason, San Diego County and California were following a syphilis trend that began on the West Coast in Seattle and moved south.
“Now, the other cities are on the downturn, but San Diego County is still climbing,” he said at the time. Cunningham wasn’t available for comment Wednesday because he was out sick.
By Cheryl Clark
cheryl.clark@uniontrib.com
www.signonsandiego.com
