Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - Tuesday, December 15, 1998
Karen Rafinski, Herald Staff Writer
Instead, in the most recent rankings of cities by the Centers for Disease Control, Miami ranked 50th for gonorrhea and 37th for syphilis. Statewide, the numbers have dropped dramatically, from a peak of about 8,400 cases of syphilis in 1988 to 399 last year.
When those diseases reached epidemic levels in the late 1980s -- for the same reasons AIDS did, namely unprotected sex with infected partners -- Florida's public health officials stepped up screening and prevention efforts. State and federal AIDS dollars put more public health workers on the streets to bring people in for early treatment, track down their sexual partners and get them medical care as well.
For years now, their work has been paying off in declining rates of syphilis and gonorrhea.
The drop in syphilis is part of a national trend. In fact, half of all syphilis cases are confined to just 1 percent of U.S. counties, prompting the CDC to make a nationwide push to eliminate the disease in the next few years.
But the news is not all good. Chlamydia rates remain high. Florida ranked tenth in one CDC survey of women ages 15-24 treated in family planning clinics -- with 7.2 percent of the women tested turning up positive. CDC officials say that number doesn't provide a full picture because it's only a snapshot of women who might have the disease.
Florida health officials dispute the top ten ranking but acknowledge the disease is causing concern. Florida reported 26,788 cases in 1997. The rate of chlamydia climbed from 152 cases per 100,000 in 1995 to 181 cases last year -- though some of the increase could be due to better reporting.
"Florida has been able to get out of the top categories, so that's good," said Sarah Bridgegroom, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee. "But chlamydia has just now been getting the attention it needs."
The disease is also much harder to combat than syphilis or gonorrhea because it has no symptoms. Left untreated, however, it can cause infertility, complications of pregnancy and make a person more susceptible to the HIV virus.
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