SHELBY – A significant uptick in the number of chlamydia cases in Shelby and Richland County has prompted a need to inform the public.
On Thursday, the Shelby City Health Department posted on Facebook that while tracking communicable diseases within city limits, there was a noticeable rise in chlamydia cases.
According to the Health Department, the post was made under the direction of Medical Director/Health Commissioner, Dr. Ajay Chawla. Chawla’s office said he was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) through sexual contact with the penis, vagina, mouth, or anus of an infected partner, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the United States.
According to Reed Richmond of Richland Public Health, Richland County saw a rise in chlamydia cases in December 2017. On average the county sees 40 to 50 cases per month, but in December 2017 that number increased to 82 cases, bringing Richland County to a total of 593 cases for 2017.
The statistics for Richland County are separate from statistics for the city of Shelby due to Shelby having its own city health department. The Shelby City Health Department was unable to provide statistics for the city at the time of publication.
By comparison, Richland County saw 573 cases of chlamydia in 2016 and 556 cases in 2015. Epidemiologist Beth Armstrong, with Richland Public Health, cautioned the statistical significance of the recent uptick in cases.
“They fluctuate from month to month,” Armstrong said. “It could be just a fluke. I will be looking at the numbers again after a few months.”
As for the reason behind the increased number, Armstrong credited more healthcare providers, better testing and better access to care in Richland County.
“If you look at how many urgent cares have come into our area this past year, I think we’re seeing better reporting,” she said.
According to the CDC, a large number of chlamydia cases go unreported because most people with the disease do not show symptoms right away, and therefore do not seek testing. In fact, symptoms may not appear until several weeks after exposure, dubbing chlamydia the “silent” infection.
“Some people are more sexually active, so they transmit it before they know they have it,” Armstrong said. “But after a while, it’s definitely not silent. People do notice it, but they might not do anything about it.”
Chlamydia is most common among young people. Almost two-thirds of new chlamydia infections occur among people ages 15 to 24 years. The CDC estimates that same age range makes up just one-quarter of the sexually-active population, but accounts for half of the 20 million new STDs that occur in the U.S. each year.
According to a Community Health Assessment for Richland County created in 2016, 69 percent of Richland County adults had sexual intercourse, and 6 percent of adults had more than one sexual partner. That number increases to 26 percent when looking at adults under the age of 30.
The Community Health Assessment was created using survey data collected from over 1,700 Richland County residents, and designed by a collaborative group of 26 county, city, and area nonprofit organizations.
Within the sexually active population, methods of birth control include they or their partner were too old, tubes tied, condoms, hysterectomy, birth control pill, vasectomy, ovaries or testicles removed, abstinence, withdrawal, infertility, rhythm method, IUD, contraceptive implants, and shots.
However, 14 percent of sexually active Richland County adults were not using any method of birth control. In 2016, 12 percent had been tested for a sexual transmitted disease.
Reasons for not getting tested for an STD included being married, not being sexually active, in a monogamous relationship, fear of knowing, did not know where to get tested, cost of testing, confidentiality, and other reasons.
“If you have any symptoms at all, you need to get tested,” Armstrong said. “See your doctor as soon as you have any symptoms, and use safety precautions. Protect yourself, because you never know.”
