Gainesville ranks high among cities with top STD rates in new CDC data - Gainesville Sun

Posted: 18 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT

Corbin Bolies | Special to The Sun

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Gainesville's population ranks No. 15 among Florida cities. But according to a recent study, the city ranks No. 5 in Florida cities with the highest counts of sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

A study by medical firm Innerbody Research, which aggregates new 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ranks Gainesville fifth among Florida cities for STDs per 100,000 people and 27th nationally. It follows Tallahassee (No. 14), Fort Lauderdale (No. 17), Jacksonville (No. 23) and Miami (No. 24), respectively.

The ranking is a stark contrast from the last year's report, in which Gainesville ranked 51st among the list of cities for 2018 cases, per an Independent Florida Alligator report.

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According to the CDC data, Gainesville had about 1,000 cases of HIV; 2,700 cases of chlamydia; 780 cases of gonorrhea; and 60 cases of syphilis.

But state data offers a more worrisome look at the county's STD rates.

Alachua County reported about 1,350 new cases of bacterial STDs per 100,000 people in 2019, putting it in the top three counties in the state to do so — just behind Leon and Gadsden counties, which help make up the Tallahassee metropolitan area.

For HIV, the county ranked much lower — 25th among Florida counties with 37 cases per 100,000 people.

Gay Koehler-Sides, the head of the Alachua County health department's HIV/AIDS program, wrote in an email that population distribution is to blame for the rise. She cited the large number of those aged 15 to 24 in the county, one partially due to the large college student population.

"Because most STIs occur between the ages of 15-24 and Alachua county has a much higher proportion ... residing in our county, we have a higher rate," she wrote.

15- to 24-year-olds are Alachua County's second largest demographic

Alachua County's population of 15- to 24-year-olds — about 63,000 — is the second-largest demographic in the county. It's 20% higher than the state population, a much larger share than other cities on the list — Orlando's (No. 50) and Tampa's (No. 85) county percentages are more in line with the state's 12%.

People not knowing their status and not practicing safer sex methods are other potential contributors to the increase, said Larissa Cantlin-Plemons, the health department's STD program manager.

Bacterial STDs like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are often asymptomatic, Koehler-Sides wrote, with most people unaware of a present infection until they're tested. That can pose severe risks, including the transference to babies upon birth, she continued.

However, they're also easily treatable, she wrote — provided people are tested for them.

Christina Vaughn, the senior nurse practitioner for north Florida's Planned Parenthood, which covers the Gainesville, Tallahassee and Jacksonville areas, also pointed to Gainesville's youth population as a catalyst for this year's large rise. She said preventative measures such as condoms and other protective measures can stunt the rising STD rates.

"Younger people bear the burden of gonorrhea and chlamydia," she said. "Protecting yourself and not relying on someone else is the best thing we can do."

Though the most sure way to counter STDs, Vaughn said, is to test for them.

"The only way to fail an STI test is to not take one," she said.

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[unable to retrieve full-text content]'Alarming' rate for this sexually transmitted disease in Fresno County, public health warns Fresno Bee

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