Sexually transmitted disease surveillance 2018

Abstract

PrefaceSexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2018 presents statistics and trends for STDs in the United States through 2018. This annual publication is intended as a reference document for policy makers, program managers, health planners, researchers, and others who are concerned with the public health implications of these diseases. The figures and tables in this edition supersede those in earlier publications of these data.The surveillance information in this report is based on the following sources of data: (1) notifiable disease reporting from state and local STD programs; (2) projects and programs that monitor STDs in various settings, including the National Job Training Program, the STD Surveillance Network, and the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project; and (3) national surveys and other data collection systems implemented by federal and private organizations.

Giving syphilis and gonorrhea to friends: using in-person friendship networks to find additional cases of gonorrhea and syphilis

“…The degree of each network member is the number of their contacts that came to the STI clinic to complete the survey. To evaluate whether data may be differentially missing according to STI status, we used Fisher's exact test to test for associations between the degree of each network member and six variables strongly associated with STI status [1]: gender (p = 0.2), Black or African-American identity (p = 0.5), HIV status (p = 0.5), chlamydia status (p = 0.9), gonorrhea status (p = 0.3), and syphilis status (p = 0.3). Due to the immune response to STIs, STIs increase the risk of transmitting HIV or contracting HIV, even after treatment.…”

“…Given racial disparities in STI, with the greatest burden among Black Americans [1], race/ethnicity was coded by the question "Record racial or ethnic background." Black status was coded as 1 for participants responding "African-American, Black non-Hispanic" or "Black Hispanic" and 0 for participants categorized as "White, non-Hispanic," "White, Hispanic," "Asian/Asian-American", and "Other.…”

“…The 2018 resurgence of syphilis and gonorrhea to the highest levels in over two decades concomitant with resource constraints requires innovative methods of control [1]. Traditionally, disease intervention specialists from state and local health departments review sexually transmitted infection (STI) cases to conduct sexual contact tracing, an approach known to yield incomplete information because index cases may not remember or may conceal some sexual partners [2].…”

The serogroup B meningococcal outer membrane vesicle-based vaccine 4CMenB induces cross-species protection against Neisseria gonorrhoeae

“…An estimated 78 million new gonorrheal infections occur each year worldwide [1] and rates are rising globally, with a 67% increase in reported infections in the U.S. between 2014 and 2018 [2]. Caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng) , gonorrhea is associated with significant morbidity and mortality that disproportionately affects women and newborns.…”

Giving syphilis and gonorrhea to friends: Using in-person friendship networks to find additional cases of gonorrhea and syphilis

“…The resurgence of syphilis and gonorrhea to the highest levels in over two decades concomitant with resource constraints requires innovative methods of control (1). Traditionally, disease intervention specialists from state and local health departments review sexually transmitted infection (STI) cases to conduct sexual contact tracing, an approach known to yield incomplete information because index cases may not remember or may conceal some sexual partners (2).…”