Byline: MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
Norfolk is among the 10 cities nationwide with the highest rates of two sexually transmitted diseases, federal health officials announced Monday.
The Hampton Roads city ranked eighth for syphilis and ninth for gonorrhea, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report shows a continuing problem of sexually transmitted diseases in urban areas, even though the numbers have been dropping nationally and in Virginia.
No other southeastern Virginia cities were on the list. The nearest city was Richmond, which was rated sixth for syphilis and seventh for gonorrhea.
In 1997, Norfolk had 626 cases of gonorrhea for every 100,000 people, and 19 cases of syphilis per 100,000 people. The numbers are for the city alone and do not include the rest of the metro area.
Baltimore had the worst rates nationwide, with 991 cases of gonorrhea and 99 cases of syphilis per 100,000 people.
John Monroe, epidemiologist for the Norfolk Health Department, said people should understand that the actual number of cases in Norfolk is much smaller than in the major cities.
For example, Baltimore had 6,693 cases of gonorrhea in 1997; Norfolk had 1,462. Baltimore had 669 cases of syphilis; Norfolk had 44.
``It looks strange because we're among cities that have two or three times our population,'' Monroe said.
However, disease rates typically are used by health officials to judge how pervasive a problem is in a community.
That there is a problem in Norfolk is not news to local health officials, who have been battling the spread of the disease for years.
``We have known for some time that STDs in Norfolk is a public health concern,'' Monroe said.``It's being targeted by the Health Department.''
Sexually transmitted diseases afflict people from all classes of society. But here and elsewhere, their spread is connected to poverty and all the social problems that congregate around pockets of poverty - lack of awareness about health risks, drug abuse and sex at a young age.
``All of those factor in,'' Monroe said.
Drug abuse, in particular, contributes to the spread. ``Anything that tends to decrease your faculties will tend to make you more susceptible,'' Monroe said. And there are cases of users trading sex for drugs.
Young people are most at risk, he said. They tend to be less careful and less likely to listen to advice about restraint and protection.
``Younger people just aren't paying attention to the message,'' Monroe said.
Despite pervasive stereotypes about sailors, Monroe said the problem is not linked to Norfolk's large Navy population. Navy personnel, like the rest of the population, contribute to the numbers, but not at high rates.
``I don't think this is something you can blame on the military,'' he said.
To combat the problem, the Norfolk Health Department runs free, confidential clinics where STDs are diagnosed and treated.
They do ``contact tracing'' - finding and testing the sexual partners of people who are infected. That service also is confidential.
Health officials, working with community groups, also try to prevent the spread of the diseases through health fairs, outreach programs and seminars in the schools, Monroe said.
The CDC released the national numbers to increase awareness, The Associated Press reported.
``Our hope is to show that, on one hand, we have made tremendous progress as a nation . . .but there still is a substantial job that remains to be done,'' Dr. Helene Gayle, director of the CDC's center for STD prevention, told the AP.
The cities' problem stands in contrast to national and state improvements.
Last year, Virginia's Health Department reported the lowest number of syphilis and gonorrhea cases in a decade.
Nationally, rates for gonorrhea have been declining since the 1970s, when a federal control program started. The U.S. rate in 1996 was 124 per 100,000 people.
The country has achieved similar success in controlling syphilis, the CDC said. The 11,387 cases reported nationally in 1996 were the fewest since 1959, with a rate of 4 per 100,000.
Gonorrhea, caused by a bacterium, can lead to prostate problems, pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy and chronic pain. It can be treated with antibiotics.
Some common symptoms include: a puslike discharge from the urethra; frequent urination; a burning sensation while urinating; pelvic and abdominal pain; nausea, fever and chills; and painful intercourse.
Syphilis, caused by a different type of bacteria, also responds to antibiotics, if detected early. If untreated, however, it can lead to irreversible heart and brain damage.
It shows up as sores on the genitals or any other body part that came in contact with the sores of an infected person. A month or so later, the infected person may have a rash anywhere on the body, flulike symptoms, lesions on the face, genital warts, yeast patches in the mouth or vagina, and hair loss.
In its final stages, which may take decades, syphilis can cause blindness and dementia.
CAPTION(S):
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What it means to you
If you'd like more information about sexually transmitted diseases, or if you fear you've been exposed, call the Health Department's STD clinic at 623-2767.
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RATES
The cities that reported the highest rates of gonorrhea and syphilis in 1997. Numbers reflect the number of infections per 100,000 people.
Gonorrhea rates
1. Baltimore, 991
2. Washington, D.C. 839
3. St. Louis, 825
4. Rochester, N.Y., 770
5. Atlanta 761
6. Detroit, 755
7. Richmond, Va., 739
8. Newark, N.J., 689
9. Norfolk, Va., 626
10. New Orleans, 576
Syphilis rates
1. Baltimore, 99
2. Memphis, Tenn., 40
3. Nashville, 38
4. Atlanta, 28
5. New Orleans, 28
6. Richmond, Va., 25
7. Washington, D.C. 22
8. Norfolk, Va., 19
9. St. Louis, 17
10. Oklahoma City, 17
- Associated Press
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