Sex diseases up sharply in Stark County, nation

Sex diseases are skyrocketing across the nation, and Stark County has been no exception to the trend, according to federal, state and local health officials.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report 2018 on its website Oct. 8, saying syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia reached all-time highs across the country last year.

The Ohio Department of Health declared a statewide community outbreak in June 2018 after observing an increase in Hepatitis A cases. Sixteen patients died.

Locally, health officials say the numbers of Hepatitis A, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV are on the rise.

HIV infections increased 125% from 2013 through 2017, according to the 2019 Stark County Community Health Assessment released by the Stark County Health Department in May. The assessment shows in 2013, there were 3.2 cases of HIV for every 100,000 people. In 2017, there were 7.2 cases per every 100,00 population.

"Chlamydia and syphilis for Stark have increased. Our chlamydia rates are increasing at a faster rate than the state (rates) are in the past four years," said Avi Joseph, epidemiologist at the county health department.

While gonorrhea in Stark County was lower than the state average last year, the number of cases of gonorrhea in Stark County rose 20% over the past five years, according to the county health department.

The Canton City Health Department's Countywide Communicable Disease Reports, called Epigram statistics, which are available online at www.cantonhealth.org, show that syphilis infections have risen 371% in the last five years -- from only seven cases in 2014 to 33 cases last year. From Jan. 1 through Aug. 30, the county already had seen 22 more cases of the disease.

"I would imagine that trend is only increasing, with the number of cases that we had last year and the number of cases that we've had this year," Joseph said.

Locally, gonorrhea and Hepatitis A have increased about 20% each in the last five years, and chlamydia, about 12%, the city health department statistics show. Only nine cases of Hep A were reported in 2014, while 11 cases were reported last year. Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 30 of this year, 14 cases of Hep A already had been reported.

Health officials say the number of people suffering from sexually transmitted diseases could be higher than the statistics.

By law, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and Hepatitis A must be reported to the local health department, which in turn reports to the state health department. The CDC gets these statistics next.

Those contagions are among the nearly 60 reportable diseases that can be cured with medical treatment. Other sexually transmitted contagions, however, are not curable -- herpes, for example -- and do not make the list to be reported. Health officials say the CDC does not require them to report cases of herpes.

"The numbers are only as good as the reporting," said Diane Thompson, director of nursing for the city health department.

If someone suffering symptoms of a sexually transmitted disease is treated by a private doctor or an emergency room physician without being tested, the infection is not reported to health officials. Again, if there's a positive test, the results must be reported, by law.

The CDC report shows that from 2017 to 2018, syphilis among newborns increased 40%, and syphilis among women increased 34%. In 2018, about 86% of syphilis cases reported are men.

In cases where chlamydia were reported, young women ages 15 to 24 account account for 44%, the report also shows.

The CDC report also shows that while these sexually transmitted diseases can be cured with antibiotics, if left untreated, they can result in infertility, ectopic pregnancy and increased HIV risk.

For information on the prevention of STDs, go to CDC.gov/std/prevention/default.htm

For information about symptoms associated with STDs, go to CDC.gov/std/default.htm

Reach Lori at 330-580-8309 or lori.steineck@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @lsteineckREP

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