Health & Fitness

See How Rising STD Rates Have Affected North Carolina

A new analysis of CDC data shows which states and counties are the most affected by STDs. Here's what it found in the Charlotte metro.

A new analysis of CDC data shows which states and counties are the most affected by STDs.
A new analysis of CDC data shows which states and counties are the most affected by STDs. (Shutterstock)

A new analysis of CDC data shows which states are most affected by the rising rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, and the news is not great for North Carolina. The CDC’s latest report released on the topic found that nearly 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2017, which marked the fourth consecutive year of sharp increases in the three sexually transmitted diseases, according to the report.

In all three categories, North Carolina ranked in the top 10, according to the data.

The analysis by Health Testing Centers notes that when the CDC began collecting STD data in 1941, there were only 679,028 cases of syphilis and gonorrhea. Today, that figure includes cases of chlamydia, which had the most dramatic increase since the 1980s, the analysis says.

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Here’s a look at how chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have affected North Carolina:

Chlamydia
North Carolina ranks 7th in the U.S. for the rate of chlamydia cases in 2017. According to the analysis, there were 62,876 chlamydia cases in North Carolina in 2017, with a rate of 619.7 cases per 100,000 residents.

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Mecklenburg County was ranked No. 32 in the country for Chlamydia cases, with 8,828 new cases in 2017.

Gonorrhea
North Carolina also ranks 7th in the U.S. for the rate of gonorrhea cases in 2017. According to the analysis, there were 22,871 gonorrhea cases in North Carolina in 2017, with a rate of 225.4 cases per 100,000 residents.

Mecklenburg County was ranked No. 35 in the country for Gonorrhea cases, with 3,181 new cases in 2017.

Syphilis
North Carolina ranks 8th in the U.S. for the rate of syphilis cases in 2017. According to the analysis, there were 1,138 syphilis cases in North Carolina in 2017, with a rate of 11.2 cases per 100,000 residents.

Below are the states most affected by each STD:

Chlamydia

  1. Alaska
  2. Louisiana
  3. Mississippi
  4. New Mexico
  5. South Carolina

Gonorrhea

  1. Mississippi
  2. Alaska
  3. Louisiana
  4. South Carolina
  5. Alabama

Syphilis

  1. Louisiana
  2. Nevada
  3. California
  4. New York
  5. Texas

The CDC said of the 2017 figures that the country was sliding backwards after decades of declining STDs and warned of the ongoing threat that gonorrhea will become resistant to the last antibiotic that can cure it.

Read more via the Health Testing Centers here.

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