CDC: La. Has Worst Gonorrhea Rate in U.S.
Tue Dec 30, 7:34 AM ET
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS - For the second year in a row, Louisiana has the nation's worst gonorrhea rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites).
The state also ranks in the top 10 for two other sexually transmitted diseases and 2002 marked the fifth year in a row that it has been among the five worst for both gonorrhea and chlamydia.
Louisiana had more cases of gonorrhea in 2002 per 100,000 residents than any other state.
"We definitely need to get to get the word out that the safest sex is no sex, and if you're going to have sex, use protection," said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, the state health officer.
Chlamydia is the nation's most common sexually transmitted disease, both in Louisiana and nationwide. In 2002, it affected 834,555 Americans, or 296.5 out of every 100,000, compared to 412.7 of every 100,000 in Louisiana. One reason it is so common is that there often are no symptoms or only mild ones. But, untreated, the bacteria can cause infertility and other irreversible damage before a woman knows she has it.
When it does cause symptoms, it is often a pelvic inflammation — also a common symptom of gonorrhea, the second-most-common STD.
Louisiana had 12,253 cases of gonorrhea in 2001 and 11,387 last year, for rates of 274.2 cases and 254.8 cases per 100,000. Mississippi — which led the nation in 2000 — was second in 2001 and 2002, with rates of 272.8 and 241.7 per 100,000.
Louisiana's syphilis rate is the only one which has improved substantially since 1998, when it had the nation's third-highest rate at 37.8 cases per 100,000 residents. It was No. 2 the following year, but improved to No. 4 in 2000, and then to eighth-and seventh-worst in 2001 and 2002.
Louisiana's relative success with syphilis may come down to three facts, Guidry said. One is that syphilis is more likely than gonorrhea and chlamydia to cause symptoms which will send someone to a doctor for testing. Another is that the Department of Health and Hospitals has been very aggressive about tracking down anyone who has had sex with syphilis patients.
The third is that the number of patients with syphilis is so much lower than those for the other two diseases that it's possible to track down all contacts.
For instance, 775 syphilis patients were being treated in Louisiana in 2002, compared to 11,387 with gonorrhea and 18,442 with chlamydia.
"Syphilis is one of those diseases we're talking about eradicating totally," Guidry said. "We have a handle on it now."
He didn't know why Louisiana's syphilis ranking improved so much more than those of the other two sexually transmitted diseases.
Louisiana's aggressive testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea — one test checks for both, and anyone who walks into a state health clinic can get the test for $5 — may be keeping it higher than it deserves to be, Guidry said.
However, there's no question that many Louisiana residents are having sex without the protection of condoms or monogamy, he said.
The state has pushed abstinence as the only message about sex which should be given in schools. However, many teens apparently either are ignoring the message or aren't being told: Louisiana perennially is one of the states with the highest rates for teenage pregnancy and motherhood.
"Some in every age groups are taking these risks, and they can be avoided," Guidry said.
