Boone County, CDC see increase in STDs

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released reports showing cases of sexually transmitted diseases have a “steep” and “sustained increase” from 2013 to 2017.

This data coincides with data released Wednesday from Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services. Boone County and the state of Missouri saw an increase in 2017, and all three reported STDs such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis.

The University of Missouri has aimed to combat these rising STD statistics in recent years by providing free and confidential STD and HIV testing. People only need to be tested if they change partners or if their sexual behaviors change, according to the MU Student Health Center.

“Health is very important to us, health of our students is very important, and that includes sexual health,” said Pam Roe, MU Student Health strategic communications coordinator. “The stigma around sexual health, let’s reduce it, let’s talk about it, let’s be proactive about taking care of ourselves.”

Get Yourself Talking/Tested, part of MU Student Health Center, facilitates the free tests. The university used to offer the tests every other week, but it became costly, according to Roe. Now, the tests, which can include finger-prick HIV testing, are offered free and confidentially once per semester.

The CDC says almost 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were diagnosed in the United States last year. The record in 2017 surpassed the 2016 record by more than 200,000 cases.

Boone County STD Statistics (2017):

1,654 STD cases Chlamydia was the most common reported STD, with 1,328 cases in the county. Gonorrhea cases increased by 60.7 percent. Boone County’s STD rate was the seventh highest in the state State of Missouri STD Statistics (2017):

47,109 STD cases Chlamydia was the most common reported STD, with 32,683 cases in the state. Gonorrhea cases increased by 13.8 percent. CDC National STD Statistics (2017):

Chlamydia is the most common STD with more than 1.7 million cases. Young women ages 15 to 24 made up 45 percent of those cases. Gonorrhea cases increased for the third consecutive year. This year, it was by 67 percent. It nearly doubled among men. Primary and secondary syphilis cases increased by 76 percent.