La. ranks third in U.S. in STD cases amid national epidemic

More than two million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported in the United States in 2016, the highest number ever, according to the annual Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Associated Press and USA Today reported last month that the majority of these new diagnoses (1.6 million) were cases of chlamydia. There were also 470,000 gonorrhea cases and almost 28,000 cases of primary and secondary syphilis — the most infectious stages of the disease.

Louisiana ranks in the Top 5 states with reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.

According to the CDC, in 2016 Louisiana had 31,727 reported cases of chlamydia in addition to about 10,782 cases of gonorrhea and 750 cases of syphilis.

While all three of these STDs can be cured with antibiotics, if left undiagnosed and untreated, they can have serious health consequences, including infertility, life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth in infants, and increased risk for HIV transmission, according to the CDC.

“Increases in STDs are a clear warning of a growing threat,” said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “STDs are a persistent enemy, growing in number, and outpacing our ability to respond.”

While young women continue to bear the greatest burden of chlamydia (nearly half of all diagnosed infections), surges in syphilis and gonorrhea are increasingly affecting new populations.

Syphilis rates increased by nearly 18 percent overall from 2015 to 2016, according to the CDC.

More than 600 cases of congenital syphilis were reported in 2016, which has resulted in more than 40 deaths and severe health complications among newborns.

While gonorrhea increased among men and women in 2016, the steepest increases were seen among men (22 percent).

This article originally published in the November 6, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.