ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases has increased tenfold in Pennsylvania in just the past 10 years, to levels not seen in decades, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC said those numbers rose from just under 100 cases across the state a decade ago to thousands in 2022.
"We're looking at numbers of STDs that haven't been seen in 30 plus years.”Allentown Health Director Dave Synnamon
"We're looking at numbers of STDs that haven't been seen in 30 plus years,” Allentown Health Director Dave Synnamon said.
The Health Bureau is touting its free testing in an effort to combat the spread of the STDs, specifically syphilis.
The Health Bureau offers free testing from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at its STD clinic at the North Sixth Street location.
Walk-ins are welcome and testing can be done every three months.
Synnamon said the bureau is most concerned about cases of congenital syphilis, which means from mother to baby, which he has seen more of over the years in Allentown.
"When women are going to their OB for these pregnancy visits, if the OB isn't asking them if they want a syphilis test, they should be requesting it whether they have symptoms or not," he said.
"Because they may not have symptoms, if they have an STD or they have syphilis.”
Testing imperative; prevention key
Yvonne Kingon is the manager of public health engagement and outreach for the bureau. She said not only is mother-to-baby transmission on the rise locally, but there also is a shortage of the only medication that can be used to treat syphilis in pregnant women.
“It's just a shortage of penicillin," Kingon said. "It's a particular kind that's injectable and there's only one company that makes it. And so there are alternatives to treat syphilis for everyone, except pregnant women.”
She said she believes a few factors are contributing to the spike, including poor access to prenatal care and testing during pregnancy and the pandemic.
"I think also the fact that there wasn't testing for so long during the pandemic. So much public health funding was shifted over to COVID and away from STI testing in general that we may be playing catch up."Yvonne Kingon, manager of public health engagement and outreach for Allentown Health Bureau
"I think also the fact that there wasn't testing for so long during the pandemic," Kingdon said. "So much public health funding was shifted over to COVID and away from STI testing in general that we may be playing catch up."
She said dating habits and the way people connect has changed over the past few decades.
"I think also the ease of availability on dating apps has meant that it's a lot easier to have very quick anonymous encounters and not a lot of conversation about things that people sometimes talk about in the context of a deeper relationship,” she said.
Synnamon said that while testing is imperative, prevention is also the key to avoiding infection.
“Make sure your partner is wearing a condom," she said. "Other things are making sure that when you're in a relationship, you're getting tested before the start of having relations with one another."
Allentown Health Bureau not only offers blood testing for syphilis, but also for HIV and urine testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
