Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The total number of cases of syphilis reported in New Jersey has declined annually since 1991 (Table C5). From 1995 to 1996, the reported incidence decreased by 51 cases, from 1,518 to 1,467 cases. Reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis and late and late latent and congenital syphilis declined from their 1995 levels, however early latent syphilis cases increased slightly (Martin, R.M., 1998). Table C12 provides a distribution by age group of reported cases of syphilis (by stage), gonorrhea, and chlamydia.

In 1996 the age groups with the highest reported rates of primary and secondary syphilis were persons 20 through 39 years (Division of Communicable Diseases, 1998b). Every county reported cases of syphilis in 1996 (Table C13). Crude syphilis incidence rates higher than the state rate were found in Essex, Passaic, Camden, Mercer, Hudson, and Union Counties, in order of decreasing rate. These six counties accounted for 1,234 cases or 84.1 percent of the total reported cases. Essex County alone accounted for 36.9 percent of all cases.

There were 8,720 cases of gonorrhea reported in 1996, an increase of 2,979 cases or 51.9 percent over the 1995 incidence figure. The increase in 1996 is the second increase in annual incidence since 1990. The annual incidence of gonorrhea had decreased steadily for more than a decade; the reported incidence in 1987 was about two times the number of cases reported in 1996, however the incidence has increased during the last two report years (1995 and 1996) (Table C5). By county, the highest crude gonorrhea rates were found in Essex, Mercer, Cumberland, Camden, and Atlantic Counties, in descending order by rate (Table C13). These five counties were responsible for 65.9 percent of the total cases statewide. Essex County alone reported 3,287 or 37.7 percent of the total. Almost half of the cases of gonorrhea (47.9%) had no reported age, so no conclusions about temporal trends in rates for the various age groups can be made.

The numbers of reported cases and rates of chlamydia by age group can be found in Table C12 and the numbers and rates by county are provided in Table C13. Chlamydia incidence is heavily concentrated among the young: 83.0 percent of cases reported in 1996 were in persons 15 through 29 years of age. The highest rate was in 15 through 19 year olds. The highest incidence rates of chlamydia were in Essex and Camden Counties, which together accounted for 35.3 percent of total reported cases.

TABLE C5. INCIDENCE OF SYPHILIS BY STAGE AND GONORRHEA NEW JERSEY, 1987-1996
YEAR	SYPHILIS						GONORRHEA
	TOTAL CASES*		PRIMARY & SECONDARY		EARLY LATENT
	NUMBER	RATE**	NUMBER	RATE**	NUMBER	RATE**	NUMBER	RATE**
1987	2,209	28.8	753	9.8	579	7.5	17,150	223.5
1988	2,878	37.3	1,100	14.2	632	8.2	16,423	212.7
1989	3,361	43.5	1,516	19.6	810	10.5	14,174	183.5
1990	4,394	56.8	1,697	22.0	1,223	15.8	14,724	190.5
1991	3,765	48.6	1,093	14.1	913	11.8	10,489	135.3
1992	2,682	34.3	601	7.7	779	10.0	6,960	89.0
1993	2,642	33.6	328	4.2	582	7.4	6,456	82.1
1994	2,220	28.1	240	3.0	357	4.5	5,228	66.1
1995	1,518	19.1	188	2.4	293	3.7	5,741	72.3
1996	1,467	18.4	177	2.2	303	3.8	8,720	109.2
*INCLUDES EVERY STAGE OF DISEASE **RATES ARE COMPUTED PER 100,000 POPULATION SOURCE: NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES DIVISION OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES