STD progress great, but there's more work ahead
Monday, November 17, 2008 12:34 AM PST
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E-mail this articleNov. 17 Daily News editorial
Cowlitz County health officials have been carrying out an aggressive campaign against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases since a gonorrhea outbreak was declared in the county almost four years ago. Their efforts appear to be paying off. The number of gonorrhea cases locally has decreased 67 percent so far this year, according to Daily News reporter Barbara LaBoe.
Health officials are not quite ready to declare that the 2005 outbreak is over, but the figures give them some optimism that it may be. LaBoe reports that, through September, the county had 36 reported cases of gonorrhea, compared to 109 last year. This 2008 decline follows a significant decline in reported cases of gonorrhea from 2006 to 2007. In 2006, Cowlitz County has 229 reported cases of gonorrhea infection per 100,000 people. The infection rate dropped to 138 per 100,000 in 2007.
The bad news is that health officials think it’s likely that this county will record the highest gonorrhea infection rate in the state at the end of the year, as it has done for the past three years. Cowlitz County’s gonorrhea infection rates have led all counties in the state by wide margins. In 2006, for example, this county’s infection rate of 229 cases per 100,000 easily outpaced No. 2 Pierce County’s 106 cases per 100,000.
Significantly, however, Cowlitz County’s infection rates are dropping much faster than rates in most other counties. The statewide decrease in reported gonorrhea infections through September of this year was 12 percent, compared to the county’s 67 percent drop.
Credit county health officials for aggressively and smartly attacking this problem. LaBoe reports that health officials have put educational posters in bar restrooms, reached out to doctors about the need for testing and screened inmates at the county jail.
Most recently, the health department turned to the Internet to better reach teens and young adults, age 13-24, who accounted for 51 percent of the county’s 2007 reported gonorrhea cases. The county health department launched a MySpace page in January. The Web page — www.myspace.come/sexincowlitz — allows health officials to help educate young people about sexually transmitted diseases and safe sex. It also gives young people an opportunity to question health professionals while remaining anonymous.
Health officials are cautious about celebrating their campaign’s apparent progress. Dr. Megan Guffey, spokeswoman for the county health department, explained to LaBoe that the numbers could be deceptive. She noted that most people with gonorrhea do not have symptoms, so they may not get tested.
There’s good reason for a cautious outlook, we’re sure. This isn’t a problem that we can solve and then move on. Programs to educate, test and provide treatment must be ongoing. Health officials involved in this effort know they can’t relax without losing ground. But they deserve to take a bow for the ground that has been gained over the past several years.
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