County's STD rate is state's third highest

Almost 40 percent of Sacramento County's teens and young adults carry a sexually transmitted disease, the third-highest rate in the state, according to a study from the Public Health Institute released Tuesday.

The study included STD estimates among 15- to 24-year-olds for several diseases that are not reported because labs or doctors are not required to notify the county or state when they are detected.

Those diseases include common infections like HPV -- human papillomavirus -- an often symptomless disease that can lead to cancer, and trichomoniasis, a highly infectious but treatable disease with mild to moderate symptoms for women and usually few for men.

Last month, a Bee article noted sharp increases in Sacramento's reportable STDs -- diseases such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.

The chlamydia rate rose 52 percent from 2002 through 2006; the gonorrhea rate jumped 35 percent.

The new institute report "pretty much reinforces that sexually transmitted diseases are a major problem in the region," said county Public Health Officer Dr. Glennah Trochet.

Trochet cautioned that the institute's numbers were estimates and said that her office has not done any independent surveillance on the diseases not reported by doctors and labs.

"Given the methodology, it's about as accurate as it can be," Trochet said.

Sacramento's STD infection rate among residents ages 15 to 24 was higher in 2005 than all other counties in the state except San Francisco County and tiny Alpine County, according to the institute's report.

It cost Sacramento $52 million to detect and treat those infections, the report estimated.

Statewide, about 20 percent of teens and young adults were infected with STDs during 2005, the study found, at a public cost of more than $1 billion in medical expenses.

"STDs are more common than most people believe they are," Dr. Petra Jerman, a research scientist for the Public Health Institute, said in an interview.

The Public Health Institute is an independent nonprofit based in Oakland.

It looked at infection rates for chlamydia, HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, HPV, hepatitis B, and trichomoniasis.

Since the state and counties don't keep track of most of those diseases, the institute extrapolated estimates for most diseases using the number of gonorrhea and chlamydia cases during 2005.

The report did not speculate why particular counties had higher infection rates.

But Trochet said Sacramento County's high rate is largely attributable to a lack of resources to combat the diseases. Also, she said, the larger the pool of STD carriers, the faster the disease spreads.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Phillip Reese can be reached at (916) 321-1137 or preese@sacbee.com.