By Emily Baker, Staff Writer
The Midland Reporter-Telegram
July 3, 2004
http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12198729
The number of reported cases of the two most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases in Midland County have exploded in the last five years, Texas Department of Health reports indicate.
In 1999, 193 cases of chlamydia, the most common STD in Midland County, were reported to the health department. That number increased 227 percent to 439 reported cases in the last 12 months.
Reported cases of gonorrhea, the second-most common STD in Midland County, increased 259.7 percent from 72 in 1999 to 187 in the last 12 months.
There are three possible reasons for the increase. Sal Garcia, Midland's health administrator, said reporting systems have become more efficient in recent years, meaning more cases are being reported regardless of whether more people are catching these diseases.
Also, Midland County's population has increased by roughly 1,000 people in the last five years, but that would only contribute to a few more cases, said Sarana Savage, director of communicable disease for Regions 9 (containing Midland County) and 10 of the Texas Department of Health.
The final reason is more people could be engaging in risky behavior, such as unprotected sex, said Dr. Terry Beck, a physician at Midland Memorial Hospital West Campus' Minor Emergency Center. That is probably because of complacency and a lack of proper education about STDs and their prevention, Beck said.
A strong majority of the STD cases are in high school and college-aged people. Some 76 percent of all reported cases belong to 15- to 24-year-olds. Of chlamydia cases, 79 percent are in 15- to 24-year-olds. Of gonorrhea cases, 74 percent are in the same age range. Midland Independent School District's office of communication did not return calls Friday requesting comment about sex education in public schools.
"I think teenagers, because of their youth and experimentation, (seem) to be where a large portion of our STDs are," Savage said.
Savage disagrees that lack of education could be a cause for the increase due to the increasing acceptability of discussing STDs. She agrees complacency could be a cause, however, especially in teenagers.
"They know there are medical advancements that keep HIV from attacking the body as quickly," she said. "They don't see HIV as a threat. They think by the time they get sick from it, they'll have a cure. And for chlamydia and gonorrhea, they know they can get a pill and be cured."
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are both bacterial diseases and have similar symptoms, Beck said. Sometimes patients with either disease don't show symptoms at all, he said, and don't know they have the disease.
Those who do usually experience mild symptoms. Women usually have vague lower abdominal pain, mild discharge and fever. Men usually have discharge and burning with urination. The symptoms are usually more bothersome for men who have gonorrhea, Beck said. Men with these diseases usually think they have a bladder infection, Beck said, adding that bladder infections are uncommon in men.
Both diseases are treated with antibiotics, and treatment has a high success rate, Beck said. But, the more times a woman has either disease, the higher her risk for becoming sterile, Beck said. That's because the disease can manifest itself as pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause scarring in the uterus and fallopian tubes, he said. Pelvic inflammatory disease is one of the most common causes of infertility, Beck said.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are two of the five STDs tracked by the health department. The others are syphilis, HIV and chancroid, an uncommon bacterial disease that causes lesions.
Syphilis and HIV instances in Midland County remain relatively steady. There were less than 10 cases each reported to the health department in the last 12 months. Possibly no cases of chancroid have ever been reported in Midland County, Savage said.
Midland Health and Senior Services operates a clinic where citizens can be tested for STDs. It is located at 3303 W. Illinois Ave. and is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. most weekdays. A charge of $10 covers the screening. Garcia said no one will be turned away due to inability to pay.
Use of the general STD screening service remains about the same with 1,707 patients January through May this year and 1,722 during the same time last year. HIV screenings have increased this year to 2,423 January through May this year from 2,130 during the same time last year.
Pamphlets about STDs and their prevention are available at the clinic for no charge.
Three STDs that are not tracked by the health department are becoming more common, Beck said -- herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV, also known as genital warts) and hepatitis C.
None of those diseases is curable. Herpes causes lesions, HPV greatly increases a woman's risk for cervical cancer, and hepatitis C attacks the liver. HPV and hepatitis C sometimes don't cause symptoms, Beck said.
Beck said proper condom use and monogamy are good methods of prevention and abstinence is a fail-safe method. He said proper condom use is between 90 and 100 percent effective in prevention. Beck also said less traditional forms of sexual contact, such as oral sex, carry the same STD risk without the aforementioned methods of prevention.
None of the diseases can be contracted from a toilet seat, Beck said. They are transmitted through body fluid exchange for most or contact with an infected area for some such as herpes. The bacteria or viruses causing the diseases cannot survive in open air for long, which is why it is practically impossible to catch them from toilet seats, Beck said.
There were 635 cases of sexually transmitted diseases in Midland County reported to the Texas Department of Health in the last 12 months. The health department only tracks chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV and chancroid, an uncommon bacterial disease.
Reported cases:
Total STDs:
Chlamydia:
Gonorrhea:
-- Source: Texas Department of Health
Email Reporter Emily Baker about this story.
This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Texas Citizens for Science is making such material available in our effort to advance the understanding of scientific, political, economic, cultural, historical, and philosophic issues. Because TCS is a non-profit, educational organization, we believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without charge or profit to those who have an interest in viewing the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, please go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you should obtain permission from the copyright owner (the newspaper, journal, or service identified). TCS will always include the web address (URL) of every article reprinted here so that interested individuals can view the original article on its original website if still available. In addition, while minor editing of format has been conducted, no text has been edited or altered in any way.