State's STD Rates on Rise
Albuquerque Journal (New
Mexico)
Jackie Jadrnak
JANUARY 20, 2003
Health officials have no good explanation for the increasing numbers of syphilis and gonorrhea cases in New Mexico, but said they might be due to more people having unprotected sex. They noted that the increases reflect what is occurring nationwide. "I just think the message is not really getting out there consistently enough about safer sex," said Dr. Bruce Trigg, medical director of the STD program for the New Mexico Department of Health in the Albuquerque area.
The number of syphilis cases is not large, but one marker of recently acquired cases more than doubled from 2001 to 2002: Cases of primary and secondary syphilis increased from 16 to 36. The overall number of cases reported rose 35 percent from 77 to 104.
Gonorrhea saw a 31.5 percent rise, from 1,085 cases in 2001 to 1,427 in 2002. For both diseases, the final 2002 numbers may climb even higher, because all cases may not have been reported by the time these figures were compiled.