Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Rates Of Three STDs Climb For Fifth Consecutive Year, Experts See Reflection Of Broader Health Care System Failure
U.S. infections from three sexually transmitted diseases have risen for the fifth consecutive year. More than 1.7 million cases of chlamydia were reported last year. The infection rate rose 3% from 2017. It's the most ever reported in a year, though the trend is mainly attributed to increased testing. (10/8)
The rate of infection climbed steadily between 2014 and 2018, resulting in a 71% jump in the number of syphilis cases, a 63% increase in gonorrhea and a 19% rise in chlamydia during that period. Budget cuts at the state and local level resulting in staff reductions, clinic closures, less screening and patient follow-up has accounted for the increased disease rates, in addition to decreased condom use, health officials said. (10/8)
It said the increase in newborn deaths was a consequence of rising syphilis rates among women of reproductive age, whom it encouraged to practice safer sex and to get tested for S.T.D.s by their health care providers. “There are tools available to prevent every case of congenital syphilis,” Gail Bolan, director of the C.D.C.’s Division of S.T.D. Prevention, said in a statement. “Testing is simple and can help women to protect their babies from syphilis — a preventable disease that can have irreversible consequences.” There were more than 1,300 cases of syphilis cases among newborns in 2018, a 40 percent increase from the previous year, the center said. The 2018 figure represented a 185 percent increase since 2014. (Stack, 10/8)
"Yet not that long ago, gonorrhea rates were at historic lows, syphilis was close to elimination, and we were able to point to advances in STD prevention," Dr. Gail Bolan, director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention, wrote in the new report's foreword. "That progress has since unraveled. The number of reported syphilis cases is climbing after being largely on the decline since 1941, and gonorrhea rates are now increasing. "Many young women continue to have undiagnosed chlamydial infections, putting them at risk for infertility." (Howard, 10/8)
Kaiser Health News: Congenital Syphilis Continues To Rise At An Alarming Rate
In California, cases of congenital syphilis — the term used when a mother passes the infection to her baby during pregnancy — continued a stark seven-year climb, to 332 cases, an 18.1% increase from 2017, according to the federal data. Only Texas, Nevada, Louisiana and Arizona had congenital syphilis rates higher than California’s. Those five states combined made up nearly two-thirds of total cases, although all but 17 states saw increases in their congenital syphilis rates. (Barry-Jester, 10/8)
St. Louis has retained the dubious distinction of leading the nation in sexually transmitted diseases, ranking first in 2018 among counties and independent cities for the rate of gonorrhea and — after dropping to third place a year ago — regaining the top spot for chlamydia. The city was fourth for its syphilis rate. Across the U.S., the combined cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia reached an all-time high last year, according to the annual report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Munz, 10/8)
