STI Rates Increasing In Montgomery County: Officials

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Sexually transmitted infection rates in Montgomery County were higher in 2017 than they were in 2016, according to a press release. County health officials said in the release that adolescents' and young adults' infection rates for chlamydia and gonorrhea both rose significantly.

“This is a public health crisis and while this mirrors national trends, it is critical that we provide prevention information so that adolescents and young adults can make safe decisions,” said Dr. Travis Gayles, County health officer. The gonorrhea and chlamydia rates in Montgomery at their highest in 10 years.

While the entire state of Maryland saw an increase in chlamydia cases of nine percent, Montgomery County's chlamydia rate rose by 17.5 percent. Two-thirds of the 4,029 chlamydia cases in 2017 were women, the press release said.

As for gonorrhea, its 726 cases in 2017 were nearly 70 percent men. There was a 29 percent increase in gonorrhea cases in the county, as opposed to a 15 percent increase across Maryland.

While there were few cases of syphilis than the other STIs, the increase is much bigger. There were 50 cases of primary and secondary syphilis in 2017, over a 50 percent increase, and 144 cases of early syphilis, an 85 percent increase.

Officials will implement a plan to attack the problem from multiple angles. Here's what they plan on doing:

• Make contraception, such as condoms, available at high school wellness centers, at locations throughout the county and at Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) clinics
• Increase access to STI screening throughout the community
• Educate community providers on STI screening guidelines and recent disease trends
• Increase access to treatment, including partner therapy, and link to providers for follow-up care
• Increase awareness and education on disease trends, including the use of peer educators
• Enhance disease surveillance and investigation to monitor disease trends

See more: Condoms Should Not Be Washed And Reused: CDC

For fact sheets about sexually transmitted infections, visit the CDC's sexual health webpage.

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