Nevada’s rate of sexually spread diseases near national average

By Erin Dostal (contact)

Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 | 5:53 p.m.

Data released Monday indicate Nevada’s rates of sexually transmitted diseases are near the national average.

The annual Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study focused on chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea. Nevada ranked 24th out of 50 states per 100,000 residents in occurrences of gonorrhea, 26th in reports of chlamydia and 19th in reports of syphilis.

Nevada’s rankings of gonorrhea and chlamydia weren’t surprising to Mary Ellen Harrell, community health nurse manager at the Southern Nevada Health District. However, she said the number of syphilis reports in Clark County was encouraging.

In 2004, a syphilis outbreak occurred in the county, but the numbers have been declining in recent years.

In 2003, there were eight cases of primary and secondary syphilis, the most common forms of the disease. In 2004, there were 38 cases. By 2006, there were 130 reported cases in Clark County.

Through the end of October, there were 78 reported cases in the county – a promising decrease, Harrell said.

“Even though it’s a very treatable disease, we have these outbreaks because people are not practicing safer sex,” Harrell said.

The rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia changed little from 2007 to 2008. There was a slight decrease in the number of reported cases of gonorrhea in Clark County but the change wasn’t significant, Harrell said.

Clark County ranked 36th among counties and independent cities across the country in reported cases of gonorrhea, with 1,918 cases in 2008. Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, ranked first with 13,227 reported cases last year.

There were 336,742 reported cases of the disease nationwide in 2008.

Clark County ranked 45th in reported cases of syphilis, with 72 cases last year. Los Angeles County ranked first with 822. Nationwide, there were 13,500 reported cases of the disease last year.

There were 1,210,523 reported cases of chlamydia in the United States last year. Clark County ranked 19th with 7,752 cases. Los Angeles County ranked first for chlamydia, with 46,707 reported cases in 2008.

By comparison, the U.S. Census Bureau says Clark County is the 15th most populous county in the country, according to 2008 population estimates.

The report also detailed overall trends in STD rates. Girls nationwide between the ages of 15-19 saw the greatest number of gonorrhea and chlamydia cases when compared to other age groups.

The report also noted that the diseases disproportionately affect minority groups, with blacks accounting for 71 percent of gonorrhea cases and nearly 50 percent of syphilis and chlamydia cases.

Syphilis occurred disproportionately in men who had sex with other men, accounting for 63 percent of all reported cases in 2008.

Syphilis can kill if untreated, but chlamydia and gonorrhea aren’t life-threatening.

“A lot of people don’t think about sexually transmitted infections, or they think that it’s a thing of the past,” Harrell said. “It’s not. It’s something that’s been around for a long time.”