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STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) Reports
November 2007
Monthly STD Report − November 2007
St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment
Alison Tucker, MSc
For the month of November, St. Charles County had 49 laboratory confirmed STD cases. This is similar to numbers seen in the previous months of November (44 cases in 2006, and 53 in 2005).
The graph below shows number of diagnoses for each STD, but unlike the above graph, it displays year to date numbers and includes the months of January through November. In addition, it displays the STD rates per 100,000 people in St. Charles County using yearly population increases from the Economic Development Center of St. Charles County (http://www.stcc-edc.com/facts/index.php3). Given the population increase in St. Charles over the past few years, it is important to look at rates to compare STD morbidity trends. From this graph we see that Chlamydia and Gonorrhea rates have decreased slightly so far this year compared to the same time previous years.
The chart below compares monthly STD case totals from 2004–2007. This graph is intended to show the seasonality of STDs in St. Charles County. We can see that the number of STDS in St. Charles County is below what we saw in 2006 and slightly below the previous 3 year mean. Compared to previous years, in 2007 we did not see a big spike in STD cases during March month followed by a drop in April, it remained fairly steady. The 3 graphs that follow display the same data broken down by diagnosis and from here we see that there has been a slight overall decrease in Gonorrhea cases, but Chlamydia cases and Syphilis cases has remained about the same.
Zip codes and STD Rates
The following table shows the November 2007 rates and the previous 3 year mean rates of STD cases per zip code per 10,000 people. This was done using the 2000 population estimates for each zip code. The rates most likely are inflated due to the current 2007 population estimate for each zip code.
We can see from this table that the highest rate in November of this year was in the 63301 zip code. This zip code also had the highest rate for the previous 3 year mean.
The graph below the table is taking it a step further and looking more closely at the zip codes that had the highest rates over the course of the past year. From this graph we can clearly see that STD numbers are highest while college is in session in the 63301 zip code.
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November 2007 |
November 2004–2006 |
| Zip Code |
Population |
Number of
STD Cases |
Nov 2007
Rate/10,000 |
Previous 3 Year
Mean |
Previous 3 Year
Mean
Rate/10,000 |
| 63301 |
46059 |
17 |
3.7 |
9.3 |
2.0 |
| 63303 |
41575 |
0 |
0.0 |
5.0 |
1.2 |
| 63304 |
38586 |
0 |
0.0 |
3.7 |
1.0 |
| 63332 |
1163 |
0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 63341 |
3154 |
1 |
3.2 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 63366 |
57519 |
8 |
1.4 |
10.7 |
1.9 |
| 63367 |
8197 |
1 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
1.6 |
| 63368 |
46169 |
0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 63373 |
685 |
0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 63376 |
68970 |
15 |
2.2 |
8.0 |
1.2 |
| 63385 |
13931 |
1 |
0.7 |
2.3 |
1.7 |
| 63386 |
598 |
0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| unknown |
unknown |
3 |
unknown |
3.3 |
unknown |
Gender and STDs
As noted by the chart below, females outnumber males with lab-confirmed STDs. However, by looking at the 3 graphs below this graph we see that this gender discrepancy is really only seen among Chlamydia cases, it is not seen among Gonorrhea and Syphilis cases.
Age Groups and STDs
The highest numbers of STD cases have occurred within the young adult population 15-29 year olds. Steps to improve STD interventions and/or education may need to be addressed.
What is interesting about the graphs below, particularly the Gonorrhea graph, is that females outnumber males in the 15-19 age group, but conversely the males outnumber the females in the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups. Both these graphs show the that females are being diagnosed at a earlier age than males.
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