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Officials Report Mixed Picture on S.T.D. Rates
NY Times ^ | November 9, 2005 | LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN

Posted on 11/09/2005 9:34:52 PM PST by neverdem

Gonorrhea rates in the United States have fallen to their lowest level on record, but rates of two other sexually transmitted diseases, syphilis and chlamydia, are rising, federal health officials said yesterday.

The rates, though of concern, are low compared with years ago. Still, an estimated 19 million new infections of sexually transmitted diseases, or S.T.D.'s, occurred in 2004 at estimated health care costs of $19 billion, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Many cases of the three bacterial diseases reported yesterday go undetected, while many diagnosed cases are not reported. Also, two common viral diseases, human papillomavirus and genital herpes, are not reported at all, the C.D.C. officials told reporters in a telephone conference.

S.T.D.'s can cause serious, painful and sometimes life-threatening complications like pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility among women and difficulty urinating among men.

The mixed picture of sexually transmitted disease rates is complicated and not fully understood, the officials said. The presumed reasons for it include better detection methods, increased risky behavior among gay men, a possible cyclical nature of syphilis outbreaks and budgetary constraints among state and local health departments.

"There's definitely a resource challenge," said Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri, acting director of the AIDS and S.T.D. prevention unit at the disease centers. "We certainly hear from state and local health departments that they do not always have the resources they require to address all the S.T.D. issues that they need to address."

Dr. Valdiserri said the gonorrhea rate for the nation fell to 113.5 cases per 100,000 people last year, the lowest level since the government started tracking cases in 1941.

The gonorrhea rates began soaring in the late 1960's and peaked in the 1970's because of changes in sexual mores and behavior, wide use of oral contraceptives, and decreased...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: health; medicine; std; venerealdiseases

1 posted on 11/09/2005 9:34:53 PM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Mixed picture?
Please don't post it!!


2 posted on 11/09/2005 9:37:20 PM PST by GnuHere
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To: GnuHere

Well, WJC has probably been less active for a while due to health trouble, and that could go a long way to explaining the picture.


3 posted on 11/09/2005 10:00:12 PM PST by GSlob
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To: neverdem

Please! No pictures lol


4 posted on 11/09/2005 10:02:17 PM PST by CindyDawg
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To: neverdem

There is no breakdown about men, women, homosexuals, teenagers, etc. So the info is pretty useless.


5 posted on 11/09/2005 10:30:17 PM PST by little jeremiah
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To: neverdem
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
6 posted on 11/09/2005 10:59:02 PM PST by MarineBrat (When it rains, New Orleans makes its own gravy.)
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To: little jeremiah
There is no breakdown about men, women, homosexuals, teenagers, etc. So the info is pretty useless.

I don't think so. Gonorrhea is the one disease which usually becomes symptomatic, e.g. "burning" on urination with a urethral discharge, before any of the other STDs that were mentioned. The apparent decrease in gonorrhea rates could well be due to the availability and misuse of prescribed antibiotics, both of which have been well described.

7 posted on 11/09/2005 11:19:46 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: little jeremiah
There is no breakdown about men, women, homosexuals, teenagers, etc. So the info is pretty useless.

I am sure the data exists; however, most liberal MSM would probably not print it as such witout some spin angle...

I did find an article which implies there is a breakdown in the data:

Gay Unhappy homosexual male STD rate rises sharply

small excerpt:

SYPHILIS, GONORRHEA REBOUND AFTER DECLINES

By Thomas H. Maugh II

Los Angeles Times

Men undertaking risky homosexual activity are fueling a sharp increase in the incidence of syphilis and a smaller but concerning rise in gonorrhea resistant to commonly used antibiotics, federal researchers said Tuesday.

Those increases come at a time when sexually transmitted disease rates among historically important risk groups, especially women and minorities, have been declining, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


8 posted on 11/09/2005 11:30:13 PM PST by DBeers (†)
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To: DBeers

Thanks for the link. I scanned CDC's, but I found nothing that mentioned STDs.


9 posted on 11/09/2005 11:50:10 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem
Gosh, it appears that they aren't very willing to tell us which groups account for this rather bizarre increase. I wonder why?

We know the answer.

10 posted on 11/10/2005 12:01:11 AM PST by Reactionary
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To: DBeers

Not surprised, and in fact, have read (and pinged out) more than a few articles stating the exact same thing.

I just thought it odd that there was no breakdown at all; kind of conspicuous by its absence!


11 posted on 11/10/2005 8:20:55 AM PST by little jeremiah
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