| Welcome to Shield Of Islam. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Rise Forecast In Local Std Cases | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 9 2005, 04:38 PM (59 Views) | |
| abuturab82 | Nov 9 2005, 04:38 PM Post #1 |
![]()
Administrator
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Rise forecast in local STD cases http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/2...999-1m9std.html Trend seen in unsafe sex by HIV-positive men By Cheryl Clark UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER November 9, 2005 Howard Lipin / Union-Tribune This bus stop billboard at University and 10th avenues in Hillcrest is part of a campaign by the Gay Men's Health Program and the county. San Diego County is projecting a nearly six-fold increase in syphilis rates for this year compared to 2002, mirroring a generally rising pattern of sexually transmitted diseases nationwide, according to several reports issued yesterday. The county's 2005 estimate for syphilis cases is the highest in a decade. Likewise, it projects a 2005 gonorrhea caseload that exceeds any other year's count since 1993. Advertisement Click Me! County and federal health officials attribute most of the syphilis and many of the gonorrhea cases to HIV-positive men having sex with one another, a practice known as "serosorting." "We think it might have something to do with HIV-positive men pairing up and (both) saying, 'I'm positive. Let's have some fun,' " said Dr. Robert Gunn, STD control officer for the county's Health and Human Services Agency. What many people may not realize, Gunn said, is that syphilis and gonorrhea can accelerate HIV's progression to AIDS. About 12,500 people in San Diego County have been diagnosed with AIDS since reporting began in 1981. Of those, 54 percent have died. In its worst stage, syphilis can cause blindness, organ failure and death. Left untreated, gonorrhea can seriously damage a woman's reproductive system and a man's urinary tract. STD rates may be rising because people believe incorrectly that they can't become infected through oral sex, CDC officials said. There is also an increase in high-risk behavior among men, many of whom communicate via Internet chat rooms and arrange to meet somewhere to have sex. Public health experts in San Diego County are trying novel strategies to inform targeted communities about unsafe sex. Their methods include sending messages to some of the chat rooms frequented by men having sex with men, said Terry Cunningham, head of the San Diego County Office of AIDS Coordination. Besides gays, some men who identify themselves as heterosexuals engage in sex with other men. The county also makes safe-sex cards that are distributed at gay hot spots, such as this summer's gay pride parade in Hillcrest, said Dr. Wilma Wooten, deputy public health officer for the region. And it recently launched various educational campaigns, including sex counseling at family health clinics and ads in gay newspapers promoting safe sex. "We are trying to be proactive and monitor this locally with clever health promotion strategies," Wooten said. Wooten and other public health experts urge doctors to be alert for telltale signs of syphilis among gays and sexually active patients. Symptoms include rash, ulcers, hair loss and mucous patches around the mouth. Nationally, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report yesterday indicating that the count for early stages of syphilis has increased every year since its all-time low in 2000, from 5,979 cases to 7,980 in 2004. San Francisco tops the list of 63 metropolitan regions with 45.9 cases per 100,000 people. "What we've got here is a triple epidemic – HIV, STDs and substance abuse, with an incredible amount of crystal methamphetamine used especially in San Diego," the county's Cunningham said. The county is following a syphilis trend that began on the West Coast in Seattle and has been moving steadily south for the past several years, he said. "Now the other cities are on the downturn, but San Diego County is still climbing," Cunningham added. In this region, eight in 10 recent syphilis cases occur among men who have sex with other men. The projected syphilis total for this year is 219, but Gunn said health officials suspect significant under-reporting. The syphilis case total was 38 in 2002, 109 in 2003 and 136 in 2004. Nationally, men who engage in high-risk sexual behavior account for about 64 percent of the increase in syphilis rates, said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, acting director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention. With gonorrhea, San Diego County's cases have climbed steadily from the 1,505 in 1997 to 2,376 last year. About 2,700 cases are expected this year. Nationally, gonorrhea rates are at an all-time low, with 113.5 cases per 100,000 individuals. Another sexually transmitted disease apparently on the rise is chlamydia, which is frequently transmitted through sex between men and women. Chlamydia primarily affects women and is associated with pelvic inflammatory disease, a greater risk of ectopic pregnancies and infertility. Nearly 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported nationally in 2004, including almost 11,000 in San Diego County. The region's estimate for this year is 11,668. CDC officials said that while much of the chlamydia increase is due to greater and more accurate testing and reporting, the disease is still vastly underreported. They estimate the nation's true chlamydia caseload is more like 2.8 million. |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Current Events · Next Topic » |






![]](http://z2.ifrm.com/static/1/pip_r.png)




2:08 PM Jul 11