STD Testing in Oregon

Oregon STD Data

STD data & statistics in Oregon

Chlamydia has been the state's most reported overall disease for the past five years. According to the state's health department, there's a sudden and drastic increase in syphilis cases. In 2007, the state reported 30 syphilis cases, and in 2015, the state had 537 cases. A similar situation is observed regarding gonorrhea incidence as the number of cases has risen from 1,400 in 2006 to 3,200 in 2015. A majority of STDs reported in Oregon in 2018-2019 were among people aged 15-24, indicating that young people are at a higher risk of contracting STDs.

In Oregon state, chlamydia cases have been rising steadily. In 2007, the state had 9,869 cases, whereas, in 2016, the total number of diagnoses was 17,600. Hence, chlamydia was dubbed Oregon's most common STD.

Between 2006 and 2016, females accounted for 93,200 of all cases, while males reported 42,000 out of all cases reported in the state.

Gonorrhea is the 2nd most widely prevalent STD in Oregon, and the number of cases has tripled in the past ten years, from 1,70 in 2010 to 4,360 in 2020. What's even worse is that the bacteria have mutated and become treatment resistant. Around half of the specimens tested in the state for antibiotic resistance were found to be immune to the best go-to medication to treat gonorrhea, ciprofloxacin. Public health officials are concerned that gonorrhea may not even be treatable in the near future. Gender-wide, males accounted for 60% of all cases in the past ten years, whereas females recorded 40% gonorrhea diagnoses.

In Oregon state, syphilis cases have increased dramatically. The state reported 26 cases in 2007, while in 2020, there were 570 cases. Most syphilis cases were diagnosed in males, particularly men who have sex with men (MSM).

HIV Rates in Oregon

Between 1981 and 2018, Oregon state reported 10,566 new HIV infections, and until 2018, around 4,613 Oregon people living with HIV have died. Approximately 7,622 people were living with HIV in this state in 2018, but statistics suggest that over 1,241 persons might be infected but are yet undiagnosed.

HIV is the most prevalent of all STIs in Oregon. At the end of 2016, the total number of people living with HIV (PLWH) in Oregon was 7,250, according to the data shared by the Oregon Public Health Division. However, there has been a drop noted in the number of yearly diagnoses as the state recorded more than 700 new cases in 2007, while in 2015, this number dropped to 530. In contrast, there were over 7,050 PLWH in Oregon at the end of 2018, and 229 new HIV cases were diagnosed in the state, as per AIDSVu's report.

According to 2019 HIV statistics for Oregon, around 3,068 males were living with HIV (without AIDS), and 3,745 had HIV/AIDS. Similarly, 415 females were living with HIV, and 503 had HIV and AIDS. The leading risk factor in the spread of HIV in Oregon is men who have sex with men as they accounted for 73% or over 5000 cases overall, while injection drug usage led to 6% or 408 of all cases. Sex with men as well as injection drug usage accounted for 11% or 722 cases, and unprotected heterosexual contact was responsible for 194 of 3% of all HIV diagnoses in the state.

Multnomah County is regarded as the epicenter of HIV outbreaks, and the state is seeing its largest infection rates in the past three years. According to public health officials, 42 people were diagnosed with HIV in this county in the latter half of 2018, and all of these are new cases. This number is twice as high as the number of patients identified in 2016-2017, when only 25 cases were reported in Multnomah County.

Age, Gender, and Ethnic Disparities

STDs do not have any gender bias and infect males and females both. However, as mentioned above, in Oregon state, females have reported a higher number of STDs cases, particularly in chlamydia and gonorrhea. On the other hand, syphilis is more common among males.

Between 2007 and 2016, 14764 chlamydia cases were reported among 20-24-year-old males, and 38,545 cases were reported among 20-24-year-old females. The 25-34 age group reported 1,459 chlamydia cases among males and 21,829 cases among females. Hence, these two were the most affected age groups regarding chlamydia. Whites accounted for 71,771 cases, Black 7,780 cases, Native American/Alaska Native reported 2,402 cases, Asian, Pacific Islander had 2,837 cases, and Hispanic had 19,588 of all cases. Whites, as evident, reported 53% of all cases, followed by Hispanics with over 14% of cases, and Blacks accounted for 5.8% of all cases.

Regarding gonorrhea, 25-34-year-old males reported more cases with 4772, whereas females from the same age group reported 2,478 cases overall. The second most impacted age group was 20-24 years old as it reported 2451 gonorrhea cases among males and 2210 cases among females. The third highly impacted group was 35-44 years old. The males reported 2421 cases, and females reported 879 overall cases. The infection rate was highest among whites with 11,747 cases or 61% of all reported cases, followed by Hispanics with 2187 cases and blacks with 2487 cases.

An alarming shift noted by Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is the dramatic spike in congenital syphilis cases. In 2013, the OHA reported zero cases of congenital syphilis, whereas, in 2020, the state recorded 19 cases. In 2019, the state had the 11th highest rate of congenital syphilis cases, with 43 cases per 100,000 live births.

The rate of early syphilis, which includes primary/secondary syphilis and early non-primary and early non-secondary, has also increased. Reportedly, a staggering 900% rise is noted among pregnant females reporting syphilis at birth. The situation wasn't as drastic in 2013 when just one case was identified per 100,000 population, and in 2020, 10 cases per 100,000 people were reported. The rate of syphilis among pregnant females has increased as well, with 18 cases/100,000 live births in 2013 to over 129/100,000 live births in 2020.

Between 2014 and 2020, out of the 248 pregnant females infected with syphilis, at least 28% or 69 of them had an infant with congenital syphilis. The proportion of pregnant females delivering an infant with congenital syphilis in 2014 was 2 out of 15 or 13%, whereas in 2020, this was increased to 19 out of 54 or 35%. During the same period, 18-44-year-old females reported the highest number of cases, with the median age being 27 years. 80% of these cases were detected in five counties, namely Multnomah with 36%, Marion with 14%, Jackson with 13%, Lane with 9%, and Washington with 7% of all reported cases.

HIV-Specific Data

Males accounted for over 6,810 overall HIV cases in Oregon at the rate of 331.9 cases/ 100,000 male population. In contrast, females reported 918 cases with 43.9/100,000 females, according to OHA's quarterly HIV surveillance report for April 2019.

Ethnicity-wise, Hispanics accounted for more than 1,000 cases with 199.8 cases identified per 100,000 people, and whites reported the highest number of cases with 5,567 and a rate of 180.2 cases/100,000 population. African Americans comprised 584 cases, while 76 American Indian/Alaskan Native were diagnosed with HIV.

Regarding age groups, the 50-59-year-olds reported the highest share of HIV infections in Oregon with a whopping 2,489 cases out of the overall 7,731 reported cases, followed by 40-49 years old people who reported 1,769 of all cases and the third most impacted age group was those above 60 years of age as they had 1,666 cases. The 30-39 age group reported 1,313 cases and quickly became one of the top three most affected age groups in Oregon.

Government Initiatives

The Oregon Heal Authority's STD Program works with local community medical services providers and health departments to identify and treat STIs/STDs. Through this program, newly infected contacts of infected individuals are identified, examined, and treated. Moreover, based on individual risk factors and disease prevalence, people are screened for STDs at different intervals. The STD Program of Oregon also offers technical assistance, subsidized lab testing facilities, clinical consultation, STD medications, and public health surveillance data evaluation to help the department achieve its STD-related goals.

The Oregon Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan 2017 – 2021 was devised as a joint effort to engage people at higher risk of HIV, including those with STDs, as they are highly vulnerable to developing HIV/AIDS. Moreover, the prevention and care plan aims to set forth the state's commitment to efficiency, collaboration, and innovation to ensure a coordinated response to the HIV/STD epidemic.

It collaborated with people living with HIV, community stakeholders, and service delivery providers to establish the blueprint for achieving HIV/STD prevention, care, and treatment goals. Through the Oregon Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan, new partnerships, methods and venues are provided to culturally competent testing and education opportunities to targeted populations, including partners of people living with HIV, MSM, and communities of color, particularly African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians/Alaska Natives.

HIV Initiatives in Oregon

End HIV Oregon was launched on Dec. 1, on World AIDS Day. It was launched by the OHA and its public health/community partners to mark Oregon's five-year strategy to reduce new HIV infections. The program involves contributions from community members and private and public agencies and offers various services, from syringe exchange programs to prevention education and quality care and treatment.

Oregon's Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan 2017-2021 is developed to engage people at higher risk of contracting HIV, PLWH, community stakeholders, and service delivery providers. It entails those strategies and plans through which the OHA intends to address the HIV outbreak in the state and establishes how the agency intends to achieve HIV care, treatment, and prevention goals. This program uses the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) as its primary organizing framework. It aims at achieving three key goals- reducing new HIV infections, expanding access to care and better health outcomes for PLWH, and reducing HIV-related health inequalities and disparities. These strategies, goals, and activities are developed by Oregon's statewide operating HIV planning group called the IPG.

HIV Alliance is another important initiative that offers a standard of care for PLWH without any biases regarding sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, gender, or social status. The program offers appropriate resources to community members of Oregon. HIV Alliance has partnered with the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Emerald Empire and the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Willamette Empire, two of the leading charitable non-profit organizations working for LGBTQIA+ communities. The organization continuously works with LGBTQIA+ individuals/community organizations to offer HIV screening, treatment, and care support. TransPonder, the Regional Pride committees, the Eugene Bears (MSM social group), and middle school and high school GSAs are some of its recent partners.