STDs: An Epidemic Amidst a Pandemic- Whitfield County, Georgia, 2017-2022
Abstract
COVID-19 has affected many aspects of healthcare accessibility. Case rates, percent of positive tests, and the burden of disease of Syphilis, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea among the Hispanic population were analyzed to assess changes since the start of the pandemic in Whitfield County, Georgia. The pandemic didn’t just impose a respiratory threat to Whitfield County; it has exposed who among us face the greatest hazards to our health.
I conducted a retrospective cohort study, utilizing data from the Whitfield County Health Department. Electronic medical records were labelled “pre-COVID” if patients were tested in 2017- 2019 and “During COVID” if tested in 2020- October 31, 2022. A Fisher Exact Test was used to analyze treatment rates among Syphilis cases and a population adjusted analysis was conducted to assess case rates among the county populations. Due to a larger sample size, a Chi- Square analysis was used to analyze records for those tested for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.
Before COVID in Whitfield County, 76.47% of all syphilis cases were non- Hispanic, but since COVID 50.94% of all syphilis cases have been Hispanic (p=0.0089). The population adjusted Syphilis case rate increased by 319% among the Hispanic population, over twelve times that of the non- Hispanic population rate. Since COVID, Gonorrhea case rates have nearly quadrupled, and Chlamydia case rates have doubled in Whitfield County. Men (p=0.0001) and non- Hispanics (p=0.0130) have a significantly higher percent of positive tests despite the significant increase in STD tests (p=0.0076) since the onset of the pandemic.
With the increase in STD testing, increase in percent positives, rapidly multiplying case rates, and a disproportionate burden of disease among the Hispanic Community, it is imperative that efforts be focused on improving infection prevention in Whitfield County, and all of Georgia, especially in our Hispanic communities.
Keywords
COVID, STD, Hispanic, Syphilis, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea
STDs: An Epidemic Amidst a Pandemic- Whitfield County, Georgia, 2017-2022
COVID-19 has affected many aspects of healthcare accessibility. Case rates, percent of positive tests, and the burden of disease of Syphilis, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea among the Hispanic population were analyzed to assess changes since the start of the pandemic in Whitfield County, Georgia. The pandemic didn’t just impose a respiratory threat to Whitfield County; it has exposed who among us face the greatest hazards to our health.
I conducted a retrospective cohort study, utilizing data from the Whitfield County Health Department. Electronic medical records were labelled “pre-COVID” if patients were tested in 2017- 2019 and “During COVID” if tested in 2020- October 31, 2022. A Fisher Exact Test was used to analyze treatment rates among Syphilis cases and a population adjusted analysis was conducted to assess case rates among the county populations. Due to a larger sample size, a Chi- Square analysis was used to analyze records for those tested for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.
Before COVID in Whitfield County, 76.47% of all syphilis cases were non- Hispanic, but since COVID 50.94% of all syphilis cases have been Hispanic (p=0.0089). The population adjusted Syphilis case rate increased by 319% among the Hispanic population, over twelve times that of the non- Hispanic population rate. Since COVID, Gonorrhea case rates have nearly quadrupled, and Chlamydia case rates have doubled in Whitfield County. Men (p=0.0001) and non- Hispanics (p=0.0130) have a significantly higher percent of positive tests despite the significant increase in STD tests (p=0.0076) since the onset of the pandemic.
With the increase in STD testing, increase in percent positives, rapidly multiplying case rates, and a disproportionate burden of disease among the Hispanic Community, it is imperative that efforts be focused on improving infection prevention in Whitfield County, and all of Georgia, especially in our Hispanic communities.
