Gonorrhea rates 'alarming' among young San Francisco African Americans

Bay City News Service

March 30, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - San Francisco health officials are reporting "alarming increases" in the number of gonorrhea cases among young, heterosexual African-Americans in the city and have notified medical providers to be on the lookout for people with the condition so they can be treated promptly.

Gonorrhea is an easily treated sexually transmitted bacterial infection that increases the risk of acquiring HIV. Among woman, gonorrhea can cause infertility and other serious medical conditions, and among women in particular it often produces mild or no symptoms.

Condoms, when used properly, are an effective means of lowering the risk of gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases, the health department noted.

The health department reported that African-American teenagers 15 to 19 years are experiencing a more than 100 percent increase in the rate of gonorrhea infections, compared with 2004.

Among 20- to 24-year-olds the rate of gonorrhea increased by more than 90 percent since 2003.

In 2005, African-American women in San Francisco experienced 12 times the rate of gonorrhea infection than white women.

About 7 percent of San Franciscans are African-American, but more than 50 percent of gonorrhea occurs among African Americans, according to the health department.

Pennan Barry, a medical epidemiologist with San Francisco STD Prevention and Control Services said the Department of Public Health "is concerned about this increase in gonorrhea.

We want to make sure that people who are at risk for gonorrhea are tested, and that people who test positive and their partners are treated promptly.''

A team from the department will be talking to young heterosexuals to try to find out what sort of risk factors might be contributing to the increase in gonorrhea cases.

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