Gonorrhea Up, Syphilis Bearish

17 December 2000
Gonorrhea Up, Syphilis Bearish

Gonorrhea rates increased between 1997 and 1999, while syphilis rates continued to decline, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Although syphilis rates in the southeast also have declined in recent years, we still have a disproportionately high rate of syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)," says Dr. Edward Hook, professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). "We are moving in the right direction, but shouldn't be misguided by national trends. In the past, declines have been used to justify reducing efforts and funding for STD control, only to result in a resurgence of disease."

Hook serves as director of the Center for Social Medicine and Sexually Transmitted Diseases at UAB. He is also medical director of the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Program for the Jefferson County Health Department and a member of the STD advisory board for the Alabama Department of Health.

In its report, "Tracking the Hidden Epidemics: Trends in STDs in the U.S.," the CDC says that while the decline in syphilis rates overall is very encouraging, gonorrhea statistics are cause for serious concern. "Jefferson County has managed to drop out of the top ten counties nationally as far as total number of STDs, but just recently, elsewhere in the state, there have been large outbreaks," says Hook.

The CDC report also cites a 30 percent decline in the racial disparity of syphilis rates, attributable to increased awareness of disease prevention and improved access to health care for blacks. "We have made progress but African Americans continue to be disproportionately affected, especially in the southeast," says Hook.