Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Keeping you in the Know
April is National STD Awareness Month. STDs are important because they negatively affect pregnancy, can lead to cancers, impair fertility and, can facilitate HIV transmission. An estimated 19 million new infections occur each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24.
For 2010 in Florida, approximately:
• 270 cases of STD were diagnosed each day.
• 11 cases of STD were diagnosed each hour.
• 1 case of STD was s diagnosed every 5.26 minutes.
• 67% of all reported cases of STDs (66,606) are between the age of 15 to 24.
Locally in Miami-Dade, 2010 brought another year of increases in all of the reportable STDs.
Statistics only represent a fraction of the actual cases. Many have no symptoms or don’t recognize/ignore them so they go untreated.
Current hot button issues in Miami-Dade STD prevention efforts are:
• Sustained syphilis increases and alarming HIV co-infection
• Pregnancy and STDs
• Increased rates of infection among teens
Your Local Health Department STD Program offers the following:
• Clinical Services
• Surveillance
• Verifies the diagnosis/treatment of all reportable STDs
• Community Relations
• Awareness, Presentations, Events & Research
• Field Services with DIS (Disease Intervention Specialists)
• Testing outside of the clinic setting
• Referrals
• Partner Services for infected persons.
• Contacting partners to notify them of their exposure to an STD/HIV, offer testing and treatment. It’s anonymous and confidential
E-cards are another option for informing partners that they may have been exposed to an STD/HIV. These can also be sent anonymously at www.inSpot.org.
What you can do:
• Routinely obtain a sexual history from patients
• Communicate risk-reduction messages and specific actions that are personally relevant
• Offer HIV screening to all persons 13-64 years of age
• Offer HIV screening to all persons seeking STD testing or treatment
• Promote and support Partner Services including cooperation with DIS
Lori Saxon Jordahl is with the Miami-Dade County Health Department STD Program. For more information, visit www.dadehealth.org.