CDC: Rates of STIs up from 2016 to 2018 among women giving birth

(HealthDay)—From 2016 to 2018, the rates of three sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increased among women giving birth, according to the March 26 National Vital Statistics Reports, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elizabeth C.W. Gregory, M.P.H., and Danielle M. Ely, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, used data from birth certificates based on 100 percent of births registered in the United States for 2016, 2017, and 2018 to examine recent trends for three STIs reported among women giving birth.

The researchers found that the overall rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were 1,843.9, 310.2, and 116.7 per 100,000 births, respectively, among women giving birth in 2018. From 2016 through 2018, the rates for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis increased 2, 16, and 34 percent, respectively. The rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea decreased with advancing maternal age in 2018, while for syphilis, the rate decreased with maternal age through 30 to 34 years and then increased with maternal age of 35 years and older. Non-Hispanic black women, women who smoked during pregnancy, women who received late or no prenatal care, and women for whom Medicaid was the main source of payment for the delivery had the highest rates of all three STIs in 2018.

"Maternal STIs during pregnancy are infrequently reported, but are important health issues given the potential for negative health outcomes for both women and infants," the authors write.

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