U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • U.S. News

Maryland in Top 20 for Highest Rates of STDs

May 12, 2009

For the second year in a row, Maryland recently ranked in the top 20 states for several STDs, the state health department reported.

Maryland's rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia in 2007 ranked 19th and 13th, respectively, and its rate of syphilis was fourth, officials reported. The 2007 rates show little movement from 2006, when the state's chlamydia and gonorrhea rates ranked 14th and 18th, respectively, with the fifth-highest rates of primary and secondary syphilis among states.

"We've been hovering in the top five [for syphilis] for the past few years," said Barbara Conrad, chief of the state health department's STD prevention division.

Chlamydia cases in Maryland totaled more than 23,000 in 2007, with almost half reported among those ages 15-24. The state's primary and secondary syphilis cases numbered 345, disproportionately located in Baltimore City and Prince George's County.

The state's STD rates are linked to unprotected sex and low awareness, as well as poor socioeconomic status and substance abuse, Conrad said.

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Adapted from:
Baltimore Sun
05.03.2009; Capital News Service

This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.

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