THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080270
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
North Carolina has made little progress in fighting sexually transmitted diseases and remains among the worst states in the country for rates of diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea.
North Carolina leads the nation in gonorrhea cases and is second in the number of syphilis cases, according to federal health statistics for the first half of the year.
The good news is that sexually transmitted diseases are on the decline in North Carolina. North Carolina has so many cases of diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia that it could cut the number by several hundred and still be among the worst states for venereal disease.
``It took a long time to get this way; it will take a long time to fix,'' said Del Williams, surveillance branch head of the state's HIV/STD Control Section.
Through July 23, North Carolina led the nation with 13,333 gonorrhea cases, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Ohio was second with 12,917 cases, The Herald-Sun of Durham reported.
As for syphilis, there were 648 cases in North Carolina in the same period, according to federal officials. Only Mississippi with 1,264 cases was higher.
The figures are disheartening for public health officials, but state officials hope that the total number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases in 1995 will be lower than in the two previous years.
Williams said officials are optimistic that public health messages urging the use of condoms are working.
``We've got folks out there beating people over the head with that message. We hope people are listening,'' Williams said. ``Maybe people are becoming more discriminating.''
But Williams said it's too early to tell whether 1995 will be the year when the state sees a healthy drop in the number of STD cases.
Through the first six months of 1995, the state reported 1,192 syphilis, 7,730 chlamydia and 11,619 gonorrhea cases. In 1994, the state reported a 3,150 syphilis, 17,796 chlamydia and 28,932 gonorrhea cases.
The state statistics on syphilis differ from those by the CDC because the state figures include early latent syphilis cases, which is the beginning of the last of the disease's three stages.
Meanwhile, the lack of money for STD clinics remains a problem across the state and nation, said Catherine Liu, director of the national STD hotline for the American Social Health Association in Research Triangle Park.
``Because of limited resources, a high percentage of people with symptoms are not seen in these clinics the day of the visit because there's not people available to see them,'' said Liu, citing one study that said a third of the patients who visit an STD clinic are not seen the same day.
While the state's statistics are encouraging, Liu said those numbers may not present an accurate picture of sexually transmitted diseases in North Carolina. Two of the most common diseases often are symptomless, she said.
``So you could have lots of people walking around with gonorrhea and chlamydia and there wouldn't be any reports on those,'' Liu said.
KEYWORDS: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE STATISTICS by CNB