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Sep 29 - The 10 States With the Highest STD Rates
↪ https://www.usnews.com/ne .. hest-std-rates
s3xually tr@nsmitted diseases have been on the rise nationally, with these states seeing the highest combined rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.
Rates and cases of major s3xually tr@nsmitted diseases in the U.S. have been increasing largely unabated, with more than 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea reported in 2021, the most recent year for which data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is available.
That amounts to a combined rate of 762.7 cases per 100,000 people in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, an increase of 6% over 2020’s rate of 721.6 per 100,000, according to a U.S. News analysis of the data.
Between 2020 and 2021, the rate of total syphilis cases in the U.S. – including all stages of the infection, congenital syphilis and syphilitic stillbirth – rose by 32%, CDC figures show.
The rate of chlamydia cases increased 4%, while the rate of gonorrhea infections rose 5% over the same period.
Officials have expressed particular concern about a rise in congenital syphilis, which occurs when a mother passes a syphilis infection to her baby while pregnant and can result in the infant’s death.
The rate of congenital syphilis cases rose by nearly 30% between 2020 and 2021, while the nearly 3,000 cases of the disease in 2021 marked a more than 750% increase since 2012.
By race and ethnicity, CDC data shows the rate of chlamydia infections in 2021 was highest among Black individuals at 1,081.9 cases per 100,000, while Asians had the lowest rate at 95.7 per 100,000.
Black individuals also had the highest rate of reported gonorrhea cases in 2021 at 652.9 infections per 100,000 people, while Asians had the lowest rate at 37.8 per 100,000.
American Indian and Alaska Native people had the highest rate of primary and secondary syphilis cases in 2021, at 46.7 per 100,000.
The rate of congenital syphilis also was highest in connection with American Indian and Alaska Native mothers in 2021, at 384.5 cases per 100,000 live births.
Overall, the CDC says s3xually tr@nsmitted diseases disproportionately affect people under the age of 25, racial and ethnic minority groups, and g@y or bis3xual men.
STD burdens also can vary geographically:
Data points to lower rates of gonorrhea, for example, in Mountain states like Idaho and Wyoming, as well as in West Virginia and several states in New England.
Notably, public health efforts to mitigate s3xually tr@nsmitted infections were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the CDC urges caution when interpreting statistics from 2020 and 2021, as factors such as shelter-in-place orders and reduced access to screenings are believed to have impacted infection tallies.
Chlamydia, for instance, was likely “disproportionately affected by reduced screening during the pandemic, resulting in undiagnosed infections,” the agency says.
Gonorrhea and primary and secondary syphilis dropped early in the pandemic, meanwhile, before surging back above 2019 levels.
These are the states with the highest rates of s3xually tr@nsmitted diseases per 100,000 population in 2021, according to available figures from the CDC and based on cumulative cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.
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10. North Carolina
Total STD Rate: 922.2 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 603.3 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 271.2 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 47.7 per 100,000
9. New Mexico
Total STD Rate: 925.9 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 588 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 240.1 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 97.8 per 100,000
8. Arkansas
Total STD Rate: 942.4 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 592.8 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 270.2 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 79.4 per 100,000
7. Georgia
Total STD Rate: 987.5 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 629.1 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 296.3 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 62.1 per 100,000
6. Alabama
Total STD Rate: 989.6 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 625.2 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 321.3 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 43.1 per 100,000
5. South Dakota
Total STD Rate: 1,009.1 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 542 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 363.9 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 103.2 per 100,000
4. South Carolina
Total STD Rate: 1,052 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 702.7 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 309.2 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 40.1 per 100,000
3. Alaska
Total STD Rate: 1,091.2 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 760.4 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 269.8 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 61 per 100,000
2. Louisiana
Total STD Rate: 1,159.9 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 730.1 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 354.5 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 75.3 per 100,000
1. Mississippi
Total STD Rate: 1,266 per 100,000
Chlamydia Rate: 750 per 100,000
Gonorrhea Rate: 427.7 per 100,000
Syphilis Rate (cumulative): 88.3 per 100,000

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