Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are up in California over the past five years, including in places like San Francisco county, where people are contracting chlamydia at nearly twice the rate of the rest of California. Gonorrhea among women is up 47 percent, and there’s a concerning spike in the number of babies being born with congenital syphilis.
Dr. Karen Smith, director of the California Department of Public Health, says the rise in homelessness statewide has led to more unprotected sex.
“Women who don’t have safe places to live, or who have substance use issues, can find themselves using sex to provide them with a safe place to stay, somebody to protect them,” she said. “So, there’s a whole confluence of social issues that are occurring.”
There’s also an overlap between syphilis and methamphetamine, as using the drug can increase the odds of having unprotected sex and transmitting the disease, according to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They found the trend is most pronounced in the West.
Sonoma County is experiencing a spike in syphilis cases, for instance, and found 43 percent of residents with early stage syphilis last year were experiencing homelessness, and 51 percent were using methamphetamine.
It’s difficult to calculate the prevalence of STDs in homeless versus housed populations, but officials say people living on the street are at heightened risk.
Experts are particularly worried about congenital syphilis, which spreads from mothers to babies and can have fatal consequences for infants. Rates among infants increased 244 percent between 2015 and 2017, the window studied in the latest report.
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