Columbus has one of the highest STD rates in US, report says. Here are the details.
Columbus ranks in the top 20 of cities in the United States for the cases of sexually transmitted diseases that are reported.
The city was recently ranked No. 15 out of U.S. cities with the highest STD rates, according to a study by Innerbody, a website that provides medical and wellness information.
The study was based on statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which were released last August.
The study included total cases of HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea that were reported in 2018. It included only cities with populations of at least 150,000 people.
Columbus was among several other southern cities mentioned in the study: STD rates “continue to run rampant in the South,” the report said, with almost half of the top 25 cities with the highest STD rates located in southern states.
Also high on the list was Augusta, Georgia at No. 6, Montgomery, Alabama at No. 5 and Birmingham, Alabama at No. 20.
The study noted that three cities which are comparatively small (Augusta with a population of 201,554, Killeen, Texas with a population of 355,642 and Shreveport, Louisiana with a population of 242,922) were in the top 10 list, and said that could be due to each of those cities being home to a large military base.
Columbus, home to large military post Fort Benning, saw the biggest jump in rankings since last year, jumping from the 32nd spot to No. 15, according to the report.
Georgia ranks No. 8 out of all U.S. states for STD rates, behind southern states Alabama (No. 7), North Carolina (No. 6), South Carolina (No. 4), Louisiana (No. 3) and Mississippi (No. 2).
Georgia has a population of 10,429,611 residents, and CDC data shows there were 88,410 STD cases reported in 2018.
Of those cases, Columbus had a combined 2,876 reports of HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, according to the study. With a metro population of 194,160, Columbus had 1,440 STD cases reported per 100,000 people.
Chlamydia was the most commonly reported STD in Columbus, with the CDC reporting 1,820 cases in 2018.
The CDC reported that from 2017 to 2018, there were increases in syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia cases in the U.S. The numbers of syphilis and gonorrhea cases are at the highest reported since 1991, the CDC reports, while the number of chlamydia cases has reached the highest ever number reported.
The CDC says antibiotics can cure syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, but if left untreated, STDS can “produce adverse health outcomes such as infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and increased HIV risk.”
Innerbody said it conducted the study to raise STD prevention awareness, and prevent the rapid spread of the diseases.