Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Three-Year Average)

Data Provider: NYS Department of Health

Related Indicators:

STD-Reported Cases of Gonorrhea 15-19 yrs [view data]
STD-Reported Cases of Chlamydia, Males 15-19 yrs [view data]
STD-Reported Cases of Chlamydia, Males - all ages [view data]
STD-Reported Cases of Chlamydia, Females 15-19 yrs [view data]
STD-Reported Cases of Chlamydia, Females - all ages [view data]

Life Area:

Physical and Emotional Health

Definition:

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that is spread by sexual contact with an infected person. Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Most often, Chlamydia occurs in adolescents and young adults (ages 15-24) who have new or multiple sex partners and who do not consistently use condoms or other barrier contraception.

Gonorrhea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae) is an infection that grows and multiplies quickly in moist, warm areas of the body including the urethra, the throat and the rectum. In women, the cervix is often the site of infection.

The incidence rates for Chlamydia and gonorrhea are based on the number of reported cases of each sexually transmitted disease (STD) per 100,000 population at risk (e.g. females aged 15-19 years). Because the incidence of Chlamydia and gonorrhea is a relatively rare event in many counties, both the counts and rates presented here are based on three-year averages.

Significance:

Sexually transmissible diseases, frequently yielding no or mild symptoms, are a major cause of morbidity among adolescents. Untreated, they are readily spread among sexually active youth and can produce serious long-term consequences, including:

pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, infertility, and chronic pelvic pain;
transmission of serious or fatal infection to the fetus or newborn, which can permanently damage the brain, spinal cord, eyes, auditory nerves, respiratory or immune system; and
increased risk of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth or pre-term delivery (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000).

Note:

Three-year averaging improves the reliability of the data in counties with small populations where slight variations in the number of youth with a sexually transmitted disease can result in large fluctuations in their annual rates.

Findings:

Of the average 93,221 cases of chlamydia among New York State residents during 2008-2010, 33.6 percent (31,314) were to adolescents 15-19 years of age.
Female New Yorkers had a much higher incidence of chlamydia infection in 2008-2010 (642.1 per 100,000 females) compared to their male counterparts (302.6 per 100,000 males). For adolescents aged 15-19 years, the female chlamydia incidence of 3,618.5 per 100,000 females aged 15-19 years was more than three times the rate for males (1,023.1 per 100,000 males aged 15-19 years).
The 2008-2010 incidence rates of chlamydia infection among both males and females were higher when compared to the rates of infection in 2003-2005.
In 2008-2010, an average 4,484 cases of gonorrhea among New York State youth ages 15 through 19 years were reported. The 2008-2010 rate of 328.2 per 100,000 for this age group represents a decline from the 2003-2005 rate of 368.1 per 100,000.
Youth living in New York City in 2008-2010, were much more likely to be infected with gonorrhea (524.6 per 100,000 youth ages 15-19 years) than were youth living in Rest of State (208.8).

References:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy People 2010 (Conference Edition in Two Volumes). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.