Oops, we did it again — Alaska gonorrhea rate increased 200% in a decade

By
Suzanne Downing
-
26

Alaska has been experiencing a significant gonorrhea outbreak since October 2017, says the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. In 2019, Alaska ranked 2nd nationally for gonorrhea cases, second only to Mississippi.

From 2009 to 2019, the national gonorrhea rate increased by 92%, while Alaska’s rate increased by nearly 200% in the same period. While the number of Alaska cases dropped by 10% in 2020, health experts think it’s because there were fewer in-person health services due to the pandemic, and therefore cases might have gone undetected. Also, since there is a high level of syphilis in Alaska, “reduced partner services activities were conducted for GC cases.” Syphilis, more serious of the two, is often treated with medication that takes out gonorrhea at the same time.

No numbers are yet available for 2021, but if there are many undiagnosed cases due to lack of in-person healthcare services being provided in Alaska, it’s likely the number of cases is remaining high. Right now, the stats reveal that about one of every 300 Alaskans could be carrying the sexually transmitted disease.

Of the 1,982 gonorrhea cases in Alaska during 2019:

  • 1,005 (51%) were in males and 977 (49%) were in females;
  • the age range was 14–82 years;
  • rates by age were highest in persons aged 20–24 years and 25–29 years (1,087 and 749 per 100,000 persons, respectively);
  • Alaska Natives/American Indians had more than twice the rate of the disease as the overall population, with 816 cases per 100,000 persons. African Americans had 719 cases per 100,000 and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders had 256 per 100,000 persons.
  • rates by region were highest in the Northern, Anchorage/Mat- Su, and Southwest regions (785, 341, 223 cases per 100,000 persons, respectively).

Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious and permanent health problems in both women and men. In women, gonorrhea can spread to the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease. The symptoms may be quite mild or can be very severe and can include abdominal pain and fever, according to the CDC. The infection can lead to infertility, if untreated, and can also spread to the bloodstream and affect joints, heart valves, and the brain.

26 COMMENTS

  1. Confusing.
    When you say “Of the 1,982 gonorrhea cases in Alaska during 2019:”
    and “rates by age were highest in persons aged 20–24 years and 25–29 years (1,087 and 749 per 100,000 persons, respectively);”
    What are you telling me? As according to ‘https://www.infoplease.com/us/census/alaska/demographic-statistics’
    we have almost 40000 age 20-24 in AK which would indicate that there were over 4000 cases in that category. That is almost double the entire number of cases in just the 20-24-year-olds.

  5. Still, in a state where female legislators leg wrestle with male lobbyists……. Fellas, if your girl is a legislator or staffer, be safe and have her tested when she comes back from Juneau. I know the health care system is stretched but the state used to send a nurse, a state employee, to the Alaska logging camps for this very purpose. For logging any downtime qualified for workers’ compensation if one made the claim he caught it in camp and that claim seemed plausible. Would having everyone tested when they leave Juneau at the end of the session make sense? Could that test coincide with Covid testing? ‘ Just trying to be helpful and constructive.

  6. One of the tools in this devil’s tool box is that it is a disease (among others) that insidiously tends not to preserve fertility. So, extrapolating the refusal of doctors to treat anything there will likely be a firmly discernible population redyction in Alaska and lack of proliferation of grandchildren; preferred dna or otherwise. Say how’s that God cancellation pogrum working out for your enlightened civilization.

  7. Hmmm … Isn’t there an approved and specialized type of “mask,” uniquely form fitting for all sizes, that is quite effective, backed by years of proven science and application, that is widely utilized within society as well as widely available (even available in Gas Station restrooms), and I do think these units are even available for free via the School Nurse … I think so???

  11. how is it, that Cali, Washington, NY or FL aren’t on the list. they have some of the nastiest cities in the nation. I can’t quite believe any charts, #’s or %’s this day and time. trust the ScIeNcE – always ? oof

  12. Wear your face mask during sex, cause it blocks Covid, now the clap. Especially if you’ve gotten the killer jab.

  14. So who are the people passing it around, and is it among one another? The homeless crowd? The homosexual crowd? The sex traffikking crowd? I recognize the crowds have unscrupulous peoples who wouldn’t care about their own health and their partners health. Alaska has problems with all three crowds.

  15. Ain’t no love without the glove. Let’s stay away from the bycatch when your trolling around and put on that rain gear!

  16. Obviously, we need to start a program of mass testing, segregation of the gonorrheated, and gonorrhea-status passports in order to fight this terrifying pandemic that equally threatens us all.

  18. Oh my gosh, declare a state of emergency. Order lockdowns. Wear sexual protection – with daily inspections too. Get your mandated gonnerea jabs.

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