California: Sex Diseases on Upswing

Health experts in the Santa Clarita Valley are worried that the steady increases in gonorrhea and chlamydia cases they are seeing mirror a growing problem throughout Los Angeles County. As of July, the Valencia-based Northeast Valley Health Corp. confirmed 30 cases of chlamydia and eight of gonorrhea, compared with 27 cases of chlamydia and two gonorrhea cases for all of 2003.

The Los Angeles Department of Health Services said gonorrhea diagnoses, found mostly in men and women ages 20-24, are surging in certain areas. "We've seen the largest increases [in gonorrhea] on the west side, in the Antelope Valley and in the San Gabriel Valley," said Dr. Peter Kerndt, the county's director of STD programs. In 2002, 7,800 gonorrhea cases were reported in the county. Preliminary data for 2003 show that number has risen to 8,008. In the Antelope Valley, gonorrhea cases increased by 8 percent from 2002 to 2003.

Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea are increasing in many areas of the world, including the United States, and successful treatment of the disease is becoming more difficult, according to CDC. Federal health authorities recommend that patients with gonorrhea should be tested for other STDs.

Kerndt said the increases may be due to better screening and reporting, but said they also could reflect a rise in risky sexual behavior, especially a complacent attitude toward oral sex among young people. "We've heard about it, and we're concerned about it, because oral sex may not be perceived [by young people] as high-risk behavior," said Kerndt.

"The responses we get from some of the students, especially the older ones, is they think if they don't have intercourse, they won't get STDs," said Judy Belty, director of a 10-year-old program that discuses the benefits of abstinence in schools. Belty added that teens are taught to rely on condoms, but do not know that condoms do not always prevent STDs.

Back to other news for October 7, 2004