Residents across Montgomery County will receive a health alert next week as medical officials say sexually transmitted infections are on the rise.

After six months of research, Doctor Travis Gayles told the Montgomery County Council that there has been a double digit jump in multiple STI’s.

“For example with Chlamydia, we saw over 4,000 cases which represents a 17 percent increase from the previous year,” said Doctor Gayles.

And there was an even bigger increase found regarding cases of gonorrhea.

“The county saw 726 cases which represents over a 20 percent increase from the previous year,” Gayles said.

According to Gayles, syphilis has also increased but thankfully HIV/AIDS cases have not. Of all the age demographics, teens and young adults ages 15 to 24 saw the largest increases.

“The goal is to be able to disseminate that information to folks to start a conversation around the phenomenon that is happening and then have a longer discussion and a larger discussion about what we need to do to address those specific problems,” said Gayles.

This trend in the county seems to fall in line with STI increases across Maryland.

From 2008 to 2018 Maryland Chlamydia cases jumped from nearly 25,000 to over 33,000 per 100,000 people. During that same span, gonorrhea cases went from just under 7,000 to nearly 11,000.

The full presentation that Doctor Gayles made to the county council can be found on YouTube while the detailed annual county health report is available on the county government website.