Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis rates are on the rise across the United States, and Lubbock has followed the trend.
According to the "Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2006" report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diagnosis rates for these three sexually transmitted diseases are rising and reaching record numbers in 2006.
The numbers for Lubbock, while not reaching record highs, were significantly higher in 2006 than in 2005, said Tigi Ward, public health coordinator for surveillance at the Lubbock Health Department.
"Our numbers have increased in 2006," she said. "In 2005, we had 1,697 cases. In 2006, we had 1,909. That's all three diseases combined."
The CDC estimates approximately 19 million new infections occur each year, with nearly half of those occurring in people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old.
"No doubt people are having unprotected sex," Ward said. "Some people get re-infected after treatment. They're just not using good decision making."
Chlamydia remains the most commonly reported infectious disease in the country, with 1,030,911 cases diagnosed in 2006 - up nearly 6 percent from 2005's 976,445 diagnosed cases, according to the report. CDC officials estimate the actual rate of chlamydia infection is close to 2.8 million new cases each year.
"Here in my clinic, I haven't seen any change, but then again, all we see are STDs," said Jamie Parker, a registered nurse in the Lubbock Health Department's STD clinic. "You don't notice more or less when that's all you see."
The chlamydia rate for females was three times higher than for males, with 515.8 female cases per 100,000 population compared to 173.0 male cases. The rate was highest in females between the ages of 15 and 19 years old, with 2,862.7 cases per 100,000 people. The second highest rate occurred in females 20 to 24 years old, with 2,797.0 cases per 100,000 people.
"Just based on our numbers here, our male population has higher rates for chlamydia," said Amanda Eldredge, health educator for Student Health Services at Texas Tech, about the numbers in Lubbock "It was relatively low for females."
With 358,366 cases reported in 2006, gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported STD in the country, although the report cautions that the true infection rate each year is estimated at approximately twice the reported rate.
"We had 4.8 percent test positive for chlamydia and 1.3 percent test positive for gonorrhea," Eldredge said. "That's both sexes. We only do chlamydia and gonorrhea; for syphilis, we have to refer that out to the Health Sciences Center)."
Reported rates of gonorrhea in the United States declined 74 percent between 1975 and 1997, then the rates stayed level until 2005. At that point, the rates began to increase. In 2006, the rate was 120.9 cases per 100,000 people - an increase of 5.5 percent from 2005.
"With reportable diseases, you have to report those to the state," Parker said. "The doctor is supposed to report it, and the lab that tests it is supposed to report it. The state is supposed to receive two positive tests on each infected individual."
One concern noted in the report is the increasing occurrence of drug-resistant gonorrhea. Fluoroquinolones, the antibiotics normally recommended to treat gonorrhea, have become decreasingly effective in the past few years. In 2006, 13.8 percent of gonorrhea cases tested did not respond to the antibiotics. In 2005, 9.4 percent of cases did not respond and, in 2004, 6.8 percent of cases did not respond.
"As of July, we no longer use those," Parker said. "Now we use rocephines. There are no reports of resistance to those."
After decreasing throughout the 1990s and hitting an all-time low in 2000, the number of syphilis cases have risen steadily for the past six years. Between 2005 and 2006, the number of cases rose from 8,724 to 9,756 - a 13.8 percent increase in the national syphilis rate.
"We've seen a sharp increase in syphilis in Lubbock," Parker said. "Because of that, our primary focus is on syphilis."
Most increases in syphilis occurred in men, with rates rising by 11.8 percent between 2005 and 2006. However, the rate among females increased for the second consecutive year, rising 11.1 percent, and the rate of congenital syphilis - syphilis passed from mother to infant during birth - increased from 8.2 per 100,000 in 2005 to 8.5 per 100,000 in 2006. According to the report, increases in congenital syphilis historically have followed increases in the female population.
Eldredge said college students can improve their chances to avoid STDs by using latex condoms when having sex.
"One in four college students will become infected with an STD by the time they graduate," Eldredge said. "That's very scary, and very real. That's a very real issue for college students."
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