Sexually transmitted diseases continue to spread in the United States and Clark County.
Clark County Public Health Director Dr. Alan Melnick said there’s a variety of reasons why infection rates are increasing for gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia.
“I think there’s all kinds of challenges in terms of dealing with and addressing sexually transmitted disease,” Melnick said. “The stigma. The way the symptoms present. The populations that are affected. The lack of resources to interview cases, identify cases, track down contacts, and make sure they get treated all presents a real challenge.”
Clark County gonorrhea rates have increased every year since 2013, jumping from 34.2 cases per 100,000 residents in 2013 to 137.4 cases per 100,000 residents in 2018. All told, there were 659 cases of gonorrhea last year in Clark County.
Syphilis rates have increased from 10.2 cases per 100,000 residents in 2013 to 17.7 cases per 100,000 residents in 2018, and chlamydia cases have risen from 326.5 cases per 100,000 residents in 2013 to 411.3 cases per 100,000 residents in 2018. There were 1,972 cases of chlamydia in 2018, and 85 cases of syphilis — 59 early syphilis cases and 25 latent syphilis cases.
Melnick said a lack of government funding makes it harder for Public Health to combat the rising rates. But he also explained that other areas have likely led to the increasing rates.
A 2015 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that condom use among sexually active high-schoolers decreased from 63 percent in 2003 to 57 percent in 2015. Skyn Condoms, a condom company, conducted a survey of 5,117 millennial men and women, which reported that 48 percent of millennials never or rarely wear condoms.
“There’s less frequent condom use,” Melnick said. “I’m not exactly sure the reason for that. Some of it may be education. Condoms have dual uses. They have use for birth control as well as a use for preventing sexually transmitted disease.”
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — a pill that helps prevent HIV infection — has risen in popularity, and The Lancet Journal published a study last year that PrEP’s rise had lead to a decrease in condom use among gay and bisexual men.
Rates for sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. have risen sharply, just like Clark County. From 2013 to 2017, the most recent CDC stats report that diagnoses of gonorrhea have risen 67 percent, cases of syphilis have risen 76 percent and cases of chlamydia have risen 21 percent. The CDC stats show there were nearly 2.3 million cases of gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia in the U.S. in 2017.
Melnick said comprehensive health education that includes sexual education on STDs could help decrease rates. But hesitancy to act around the issue can create problems.
“Given the stigma around STDs, it’s more difficult to get the community galvanized, or develop more community concern around sexually transmitted diseases,” Melnick said. “But there are threats for having increased rates for sexually transmitted diseases. It has potential effects for all of us.”
