STD Rates Reach Another Record High In Maryland

MARYLAND — Cases of sexually transmitted diseases once again increased in the United States, making 2018 the fifth consecutive year chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis infections went up. Maryland is 12th among states and the District of Columbia for the rate of chlamydia and syphilis infections. On the positive side, its rate of gonorrhea has gone down since 2017.

Reduced access to prevention and care of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), decreasing use of condoms and cuts to local and state programs continue to drive the increase in the prevalence of the diseases, federal health officials say. The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual report on sexually transmitted disease surveillance.

According to the agency, half of the STD infections are in young people age 15 to 24.

Chlamydia

The most common of the three diseases tracked in the report was chlamydia, with over 1.7 million cases in 2018, an increase of 3 percent from 2017 and the most that have ever been reported to the federal agency.

In Maryland, there were 35,482 cases of chlamydia in 2018. Our state has the 12th highest rate of chlamydia in the country, with Alaska leading the nation in chlamydia rate.

When Patch reported on the rate in 2017, Maryland was ranked 15th for chlamydia in the United States.

Chlamydia rates were highest in the South, but the number of cases have increased in all four regions of the United States since 2013.

Between 2014 and 2018, the largest increase in the number of chlamydia cases was in the West. An overwhelming majority were in females, and the rates were highest among those 15 to 24 years old.

Gonorrhea

There were nearly 600,000 gonorrhea cases in 2018, the highest number since 1991. More than 115,000 syphilis cases were diagnosed.

Gail Bolan, director of STD prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the progress made in lowering the number of sexually transmitted diseases — historic lows in gonorrhea cases and the near elimination of syphilis — has unraveled.

“The number of reported syphilis cases is climbing after being largely on the decline since 1941, and gonorrhea rates are now increasing,” Bolan wrote.

Maryland saw a decrease in gonorrhea but an increase in syphilis in the past year, according to the latest data.

The state reported 10,305 cases of gonorrhea in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2017 there were 10,978 gonorrhea cases in Maryland.

More than half of all gonorrhea infections in 2018 were estimated to be resistant to at least one antibiotic, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in its 2018 annual report.

The South had the highest rates of gonorrhea. While the disease increased in both men and women, the number of cases was higher among men.

Syphilis

There were 737 cases of primary and secondary syphilis in Maryland in 2018, compared with 573 primary and secondary stage syphilis cases in Maryland in 2017.

Syphilis has multiple stages of infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts cases of primary and secondary syphilis — when the disease is most infectious — and cases of late and congenital syphilis. Rates of primary and secondary syphilis were highest in the West but every region saw an increase. More cases of the early stages of the disease were reported in men as opposed to women.

In this year’s report, the agency warned of a rise in the number of newborns who died from syphilis in 2018. Nearly 100 babies died due to congenital syphilis, a 22 percent increase since 2017.

Bolan wrote in the report that federal, state and local programs need to promote sexual, reproductive, maternal and infant health and reduce STD incidence. Bolan also noted that health officials needed to be able to detect STDs in those who don't have access to being diagnosed and treated.

“The resurgence of syphilis, and particularly congenital syphilis, is not an arbitrary event, but rather a symptom of a deteriorating public health infrastructure and lack of access to health care,” Bolan said. “It is exposing hidden, fragile populations in need that are not getting the health care and preventive services they deserve.”

STD Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers a number of resources on how to protect yourself from STDs.

• Get tested for STDs.
• Use condoms consistently and correctly during sex.
• Be mutually monogamous and agree to be sexually active with only one person. Be certain both partners are not infected with STDs.
• Reduce the number of sex partners.
• Get vaccinated against HPV and hepatitis B. HPV vaccines are recommended for all teen girls and women through the age of 26 and for all boys and men through the age of 21.
• Practice abstinence.

Read the CDC’s full report on STD statistics.

— By Feroze Dhanoa and Elizabeth Janney