Columbus has one of the highest STD rates in the U.S., beating Atlanta and other large cities

Caption

Talking about sex may not be a regular part of your doctor-patient relationship, but it should be. This can be especially true for adolescents and young adults who are disproportionately impacted by sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Credit: MAX PIXEL

One would never expect a city of about 200,000 people to report more cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) than a city of 3.8 million, but that’s exactly what Columbus, Ga., has done.

According to a new study by Innerbody, Columbus has 906 STD cases per 100,000 residents, beating out metropolitan areas like Los Angeles (860 cases per 100,000), Chicago (822 cases per 100,000), Nashville, Tenn., (828 cases per 100,000) and Phoenix (880 cases per 100,000).

Columbus is the second-largest city in Georgia and 112th largest city in the United States. Of the 100 cities included in the survey, Columbus ranked 27.

Cities of a similar size like Knoxville, Tenn. (ranked 71 with 609 cases per 100,000), and Rochester, N.Y. (ranked 23 with 923 cases per 100,000), reported hundreds of cases per 100,000 people, but Columbus dwarfed their statistics for individual diseases.

Columbus reported 305 HIV cases compared to Knoxville’s 37 cases and Rochester’s 66. Columbus HIV cases were also higher than the top three cities with the highest STD rates: Memphis, Tenn., with five HIV cases, Jackson, Miss., with 105 cases and Columbia, S.C., with 48 HIV cases.

Columbus’ 13,348 cases of chlamydia were more than Knoxville (3,637) and Rochester (6,839) combined.

Little Rock, Ark., may have ranked eighth overall, but its individual totals for HIV (17 cases), chlamydia (4,553), gonorrhea (2,420) and syphilis (291) were well below Columbus’ numbers.

Reported Columbus cases of gonorrhea and syphilis dwarfed other cities. Where Columbus reported 6,465 gonorrhea cases and 647 syphilis cases, Knoxville had 1,520 gonorrhea cases and 83 syphilis cases. Rochester reported 4,620 and 342 cases, respectively.

Why? That’s a difficult question to answer, although a variety of data and studies give researchers a grasp of potential factors.

Incarceration rates, military bases and the number of residents without health insurance all play a role in increased STD rates, studies and health experts suggest.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with the Ledger-Inquirer.