New Jersey rates of STDs on the rise, especially in young adults

By: Amanda Oglesby
Asbury Park Press
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... While COVID-19 has been at the forefront of health concerns for more than two years, another group of infections has continued to spread among New Jersey residents.
..... Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have become more prevalent among adults and teens over the past decade, according to data from the New Jersey Health Department.
..... Incidences of the three infections rose 40% between 2012 and 2019, according to state data.
..... while it caused a small drop off in disease rates the COVID-19 pandemic failed to significantly slow the spread of sexually transmitted infections across the state, said Dr. Edward Liu, the infectious disease section chief at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
..... "Even during the pandemic ... their behaviors didn't change hat much," he said. "Or maybe they were so cooped up that they had to have some type of outlet."
..... While rates of infection for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis did drop during 2020, the rate still exceeded the rate for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
..... Although all three infections are treatable with certain antibiotics, experts worry that they may soon run out of medications capable of treating gonorrhea, Greta Anschuetz, the assistant acting commissioner at the New Jersey Department of Health who leads the division of HIV, and TB Services, said her office is concerned about the infection.
..... "Gonorrhea has figured out how to be resistant to every drug, and we're on the last of the (known, effective) drugs, she said.
..... On average, about 1.6 million new gonorrhea infections are reported each year across the United States, and about half of those are resistant to at least one antibiotic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
..... Gonorrhea is the second most common sexually-transmitted bacterial infection type of antibiotics is left to treat the disease, according to the agency.
..... Though the pandemic led to fewer cases of sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, at least in the record books, experts say the case counts are rebounding and continuing to rise.
..... Across the United States, rates of certain STDs actually were higher in 2020 than the prior year, [2019] according ton the CDC.
* Gonorrhea rates were 10% higher in 2020 than the year before. [2019]
* Syphilis among newborns, which is transferred by an infected mother, was up 15% from 2019 and 235% from 2016.
* Primary and secondary syphilis was up 7%-year-over-year by 2020.
..... During the pandemic, many people put off their annual appointments; as a result, many asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections were likely missed, said Anschuetz, of the New Jersey Department of Health.
..... "You feel fine," she said. "You don't know you have chlamydia. And the screening is just not happening. So I'm very concerned, because I haven't seen those numbers rebound."
..... Some STDs like - chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV - can be present without obvious symptoms, especially in the early stages, according to the Mayo Clinic.
..... Left untreated, chlamydia and gonorrhea can lead to infertility, pelvic pain and dangerous tubal pregnancies. In pregnant women, it can lead to early delivery, or eye infections or pneumonia in newborns, according to the CDC.
..... Exceeding gonorrhea, chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted, bacterial infection in the United States, About one in 20 sexually active women between ages 14 and 24 have chlamydia, according to the CDC.
..... Syphilis, though less common, if left untreated can lead to damage of the heart, brain, blood vessels, eyes and ears. The infection can also cause hearing loss, blindness or altered mental states, according to the CDC.
..... Expects disagree on what accounts for the rise in STDs, nationally and across New Jersey.
..... Part of the explanation, said Anschuetz, is more STD screening.
..... "More providers are implementing routine testing and adding it as one of their standards of care," she said.
..... Danyelle Lomakin, the clinical officer manager at the Jane H. Booker Family Health Center, said many people have returned to socializing and normal routines since the worst of the pandemic peaked.
..... The Family Health Center runs a clinic for screening and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. The center works closely with county and state health officials to try and help people in the region affected by the growing infection rates.
..... "We got an alert back in March [2022] from a (state) public health advisory ... saying that throughout the state, syphilis has risen 43%," Lomakin said.
..... "There's just more contact and more exposure."
..... Liu, of Jersey shore University Medical Center, believes another modern trend is shaping people's sexual behaviors and contributing to the spread of STDs: social media and dating apps.
.... "You have much greater ability to find other partners. ... Therefore, you have higher risk partners meeting up with social apps on their phones," he said. "that wasn't available 10 years ago, 20 years ago.
..... The return of events and large gatherings has also contributed to the spr4ead of infection, Liu said.
..... Some events lead to "a lot of high risk people in a relatively small space, and suddenly you have a little mini outbreak," he said.
..... Researchers in Japan found that dating app use correlated with a regions of the country, according to a 2019 study published in the journal of the Japan Medical Association. In Japanese prefectures where dating app use was high, researchers found a high incidence of syphilis and HIV infection, according to the study.
..... But some researchers warn that apparent drops in STD statistics can be misleading. Statistics can be swayed by lack of access to medical care, limits in doctor availability, lock-downs due to COVID-19, and a lack of testing clinics or low-cost testing resources.
..... In April, the CDC warned that a statistical drop in chlamydia rates in 2020 was more likely to due to decreased STD testing to COVID-19 than any meaningful drop in infection rates.
..... "The COVID-19 pandemic, put enormous pressure on an already strained public health infrastructure," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in a news release in April.
..... "There were moments in 2020 when it felt like the world was stand still, but STDs weren't. the unrelenting momentum of the STD epidemic continued even as STD prevention services were disrupted."
..... Lomakin, of the Booker Family Health Center, said she has seen a rise in infections at her clinic. Early treatment is key to preventing worse and more dangerous health outcomes, she said.
.... "People get tested for heart disease and for diabetes and liver problems, and STDs and HIV should be part of that screening," she said.
..... Over the past decades, the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea were diagnosed among New Jersey young adults ages 20 to 25, according to the state Department of Health. Teens ages 15 to 19 had the second highest rates of infections.
..... As a result, Anschuetz urges sexually active teenagers and young adults to be screened regularly.
..... Often, a stigma about youth engaging in sexual activity prevents doctors and teens from talking openly about their STD risk, she said.
..... "Being a good kid doesn't have anything to do with (getting an STD)," said Anschuetz. "good kids can get an STD, too."
..... STD health providers say stigma surrounding discussion about sex need to change, especially among teenagers and young adults.
..... "I do think right now there's a lot of things going on in the country. I think a lot of people are trying to change curriculum and avoid frank discussions about sexual behaviors," Liu said.
..... Making STD screening available to teens at clinics and urgent care centers, and in ways that can remain private from their parents, will help improve their health care, he said.
.... "If you're young and sexually active, you should be tested regularly," Liu added.

.... Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than decade. Reach her at @OglesbyApp, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

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