Brenda Salinas
Public Health
Community Trends
Place: San
Diego, California
Interviewed:
Alicia Sampson, Epidemiologist & Statistician
Chlamydia: According to Ms. Sampson, who works for
the County of San Diego, Community Health Statistics at Emergency Medical
Services, chlamydia has shown a high prevalence in San Diego County throughout
the past six years. She said that in the year 2007, 12,693 cases were reported
that number increasing as the years have gone by. In the year 2011 she said
that 15,281 were reported. She said that women seem to bear the larger burden
because more women than males were diagnosed. It’s the most frequently reported
STD and it affects a large number of the population in the US. The numbers of
cases seem to be increasing because she said that awareness has promoted people
to get tested thus more cases are being reported.
Hepatitis C: The second most prevalent disease in
San Diego County, according to Ms. Sampson, was Hepatitis C. In 2007, 4,208
cases were reported reaching a peak of 4,364 being reported yearly in 2008 and
then being on the decline since then, 3,266 being reported in 2011. The
hepatitis C virus causes both acute and chronic liver disease and was largely
under diagnosed prior to researchers discovering that hepatitis c actually
accounted for most of the hepatitis cases. Ms. Sampson said that hepatitis c is
one of the greatest public health threats of this century. She said that higher
rates are found in African American neighborhoods and in low-income families.
When I asked her why the cases being reported were declining she said that is
hard to know for sure but she said that maybe awareness, drug and needle
education, and vaccinations were going up thus reducing the possible outbreaks.
Gonorrhea: Gonorrhea has been slowly averaging a
number of about roughly 2,500 cases a year. The cases of gonorrhea have slowly
been declining, possibly due to more sexual education etc. This disease is very
common in the US and San Diego County is no exception. This disease is easy to
contract and most prevalent among young, sexually active populations. Gonorrhea
seems to be occurring at a pretty stable but declining rate because of
education and higher usage rates of protection during sexual interactions.
Campylobacteriosis: This disease has had a slowly declining
number of cases in San Diego County. This is an infection, amongst the most
common in humans, by bacteria, often a foodborne illness. In 2011, 549 cases were reported and this number
is dwindling. Probable causes of why this disease is losing prevalence are
because of the community’s better public health hygiene and practices. People
are making sure that their foods are being cooked and prepared properly,
consuming safe and clean drinking water, and washing their hands frequently.
With the public taking more of these precautions, less people are likely to
contract campylobacteriosis.
Salmonella: According to Ms. Sampson, salmonella
affects more people than are reported. Many don’t seek medical attention thus
are never diagnosed causing these non-severe cases to not be reported. In 2007
through 2009, an average of 470 cases of salmonella were reported yearly in the
San Diego area. In 2010, 527 cases were reported. She said that this could have
been due to a consumption of a “large batch of food” that had been tainted with
the bacteria. This number reduced to a small quantity of just 370 the following
year in 2011. Ms. Sampson said that the numbers could have dropped because many
people were frightened because of the outbreaks of the year before thus being
more careful and cooking their foods at higher temperatures, etc.
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