When asked about what action is needed to curb rising sexually transmitted disease rates locally, Dr. Charles Fenzi, CEO and chief medical officer of Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, promptly responded.
“Education is a big key,” he said. “This is an ongoing trend we see.
“It’s just increasing and increasing, I think, because we do have treatments, so the risk becomes less intense for individuals perceptively. Education is a way around that.”
Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics offers reproductive health services such as screening, diagnostic services and follow-up treatment for reproductive conditions and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to the organization.
“Access should not be an issue for screening and treating for STIs (sexually transmitted infections),” Fenzi said. “The reason we exist is to give everybody access.
“If you have a physician that you feel comfortable with or that is your regular physician, one should contact that person because every physician knows how to screen for and treat STIs.”
STDs also are known as STIs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the county Public Health Department website, getting tested is the best way to find out if you have an STD or human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Click here to search testing locations in Santa Barbara County.
In addition to SBNC located on the Eastside and Westside of Santa Barbara and Isla Vista, the National Prevention Information Network-run website lists services at Pacific Pride Foundation, Planned Parenthood of California Central Coast, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department’s Franklin Health Care Center, Santa Barbara Health Care Center and Santa Maria Clinic as well as American Indian Health and Services and Community Health Centers locations in Santa Maria, Nipomo, Guadalupe and Nipomo.
In the 2018-19 fiscal year, Planned Parenthood of California Central Coast health centers saw more than 31,055 patients and conducted 29,744 visits where a patient received an STI test.
PPCCC’s service data bear out the concerning trends seen across the country, according to PPCCC President and CEO Jenna Tosh. The latest data show that the organization’s health center staff diagnosed 2,387 cases of STIs, a staggering 18% increase from just two years before.
In the 2019-20 fiscal year, PPCCC health centers saw 28,995 patients and conducted 25,583 visits where a patient received an STI test, and provided a total of 81,012 tests for STIs.
Local health disparities are impossible to ignore, Tosh said, noting the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department report that STI cases remain highest among people ages 15 to 24 and disproportionately affect people of color.
The 2018 HIV annual report showed that the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases among Latinx individuals doubled from 2011 to 2018; 46% of residents living with HIV are Latinx, and late-stage diagnosis is higher among Latinx residents.
“These high rates of STIs arise in part from the lack of access to quality and affordable health care and resources for all in the U.S. due to social and economic barriers, which contribute to health inequities,” Tosh said in an email.
Speaking to Noozhawk, Fenzi mentioned STD trends in the area.
“We have seen a decrease in sexual activity, and age starting sexual activity both in men and women,” Fenzi said. “We have seen an increase in long-acting contraceptive devices like IUDs (intrauterine devices) and implants.”
Another concern is that with contraceptive use on the rise, and with more patients choosing long-acting reversible contraceptives, some people “may not be using barrier methods like condoms consistently,” Tosh said. “While contraceptives such as pills, IUDs, shots and implants are highly effective at preventing pregnancy, they offer no protection against sexually transmitted infections.”
STI prevention is a core part of Planned Parenthood’s health care services and education efforts, Tosh said.
With the rising STI rates, Tosh said, it’s more important than ever that people have access to regular STI screening and treatment, as well as accurate, nonjudgmental education about STIs and STI prevention.
“We know that throughout the pandemic, many patients have decided to put off preventative care,” Tosh said. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, in-person health care has been more limited, with some providers limiting hours and decreasing in-person visits. While some of these have been converted to telehealth visits, many patients are postponing preventative care visits. For this reason, current data may not reflect the real picture of STI rates.
“We know that access to safer sex — including things like condoms and dental dams, testing and treatment — and education about STI prevention, testing and treatment are the best ways to ensure that people of all ages stay healthy and safe, no matter their STI status.”
Chlamydia is the most common STD for which data are collected in Santa Barbara County, with the region’s cumulative case count at about 2,370 reported in 2019, more than 2,120 in 2018 and 2,290 reported in 2017, according to the county Public Health Department.
The county’s rates of chlamydia increased about 11% in 2019 compared with 2018 and hit an all-time high, surpassing the high in 2016 by about 3%, public health officials noted in a 2019 report.
The last year that official county data are available is 2019, and the 2020 report is anticipated to be available in June.
Chlamydia can infect men and women, and it is spread by having vaginal, oral or anal sex with someone who has chlamydia, according to the CDC. Sexually active young people are at a higher risk of getting the infection, and the CDC’s website says that sexually active women younger than 25 years old should get annual chlamydia testing.
“Most people who have chlamydia don’t know it since the disease often has no symptoms,” the CDC states.
Santa Barbara County’s latest report from the Public Health Department found that cases of HIV also are on the rise, with 37 residents in 2019, 32 in 2018 and 27 in 2017.
Public health data show that the county’s gonorrhea case count stood at more than 455 people in 2019, nearly 500 in 2018 and about 380 in 2017. The latest gonorrhea case count is about 9% lower than the total case count in 2018, according to the public health report.
According to the CDC, gonorrhea can be spread among men and women who have vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has the infection. It can infect the genitals, throat and rectum, and it’s “a very common infection” among people ages 15 to 24, according to the National Institutes of Health website.
There were increasing rates of syphilis in Santa Barbara County, with 101 residents diagnosed in 2019, 90 in 2018 and 79 in 2018.
Enhanced case investigation and an increase in STD screening practices among providers within the county may be a factor in the rise in rates of syphilis in 2019, according to the Public Health Department. The rates of syphilis cases include confirmed and probable cases, the report noted by county officials.
New CDC data revealed that the federal agency estimates that one in five people in the United States have an STI, according to a report published late January. Nearly one in two reported STIs were among people ages 15 to 24 years old, the CDC said, adding the STIs can have health consequences.
“At a time when STIs are at an all-time high, they have fallen out of the national conversation,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in a statement. “Yet, STIs are a preventable and treatable national health threat with substantial personal and economic impact. There is an urgent need to reverse the trend of increasing STIs, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected many STI prevention services.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
