2015 a record year for sexually transmitted diseases in Minnesota

Updated 1:26 p.m. | Posted 12:56 p.m.

A jump in chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis drove sexually transmitted disease cases to a record high last year in Minnesota.

The state saw 25,986 STD diagnoses last year, up 6 percent from 2014 and 33 percent from five years ago, the Minnesota Department of Health said Monday as it released the data, which also showed troubling racial and ethnic disparities.

"This disturbingly high rate of growth in the number of STD cases shows the need for improved education about STDs among both the general public and health care providers," State Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger said in a statement.

"These rates also provide further evidence that eroding basic local public health services not only hurts our ability to respond to intractable problems like STDs, but also to emerging infectious diseases like Zika virus," he added.

While STD resources haven't been cut, they haven't kept up with the need, said Krissie Guerard, who manages the Health Department's HIV, STD and tuberculosis section.

"Basically we're not getting any more money, but we're seeing cases increase," she added. "So it just hampers our ability to be able to follow up the cases to the best of our ability."

Guerard said STD increases could mean that more people are getting testing now that they have health insurance coverage provided through the federal Affordable Care Act, although it's not clear if that law is a significant contributor to the higher STD rates seen in recent years.

The ACA was signed into law in 2010. STD rates have been increasing for more than a decade.

Among its findings, the department reported:

• Chlamydia is the state's No. 1 reported infectious disease, responsible for 82 percent of the state's STD diagnoses. Chlamydia hit a new high of 21,238 cases in 2015, up 7 percent from 2014. Most cases occurred in Minnesotans ages 15 to 24. One-third occurred in greater Minnesota; at least three cases were reported in every Minnesota county.

• Gonorrhea remains the second most commonly reported STD in Minnesota with 4,097 cases reported in 2015 compared to 4,073 in 2014. Just under half of all gonorrhea cases occurred among among 15- to 24-year-olds, with 77 percent of cases in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

• Syphilis cases rose 4 percent to 654 last year, but "a new concern emerged with a 70 percent increase between 2014 and 2015 in syphilis cases among women," the department said. "The increase occurred primarily among women of child-bearing age in all racial and ethnic groups, including pregnant women." New infections remain centered in the Twin Cities, "particularly among men who have sex with men."

• Infection rates for chlamydia and gonorrhea are higher among people of color compared to whites. Higher syphilis infection rates were seen among American Indian and African-American women, and men of all races who have sex with other men.

"Addressing disparities is a health department priority, particularly among those racial and ethnic groups with limited access to STD testing and prevention programs due to longstanding social, medical or income disadvantages," Ehlinger said.

Minnesotans can protect themselves from infection by abstaining from sexual contact, limiting the number of sexual partners, using condoms the right way during sex and not sharing needles for drug use, piercing or tattooing, the department said.

Partners of STD-infected patients should get tested based on their risk behaviors and be treated at the same time to prevent reinfection and spread to others, officials added.

MPR News reporter Lorna Benson contributed to this report.