Chlamydia cases rise by nearly 200

MAT-SU -- The 2003 semi-annual infectious disease report by the state of Alaska Division of Public Health Section of Epidemiology shows that of all the infectious disease cases in the state, chlamydial infection again ranks the highest, up from 1,753 in 2002 to 1,937 cases in 2003, from January to June.

The Infectious Disease Program's mission is to prevent and control diseases in the state of Alaska. Along with providing vaccinations and discovering and controlling outbreaks, the program determines the occurrence and the severity of infectious diseases contracted in the state. The following is a list of the most acute infectious disease cases, listed by region and then by state.

Chlamydial infection: Southwest: 241, Northern: 195, Interior: 321, Anchorage/Mat-Su: 975, Gulf Coast: 99, Southeast: 106, Total: 1937.

Hepatitis C: Southwest: 16, Northern: 7, Interior: 83, Anchorage/Mat-Su: 300, Gulf Coast: 48, Southeast: 39, Total: 493.

Gonorrhea: Southwest: 35, Northern: 24, Interior: 97, Anchorage/Mat-Su: 114, Gulf Coast: 2, Southeast: 5, Total: 277.

Salmonellosis: Southwest: 1, Northern: 2, Interior: 5, Anchorage/Mat-Su: 35, Gulf Coast: 3, Southeast: 6, Total: 52.

Tuberculosis: Southwest: 11, Northern: 4, Interior: 3, Anchorage/Mat-Su: 5, Gulf Coast: 1, Southeast: 2, Total: 26.

The rest of the infectious disease cases for the state were sporadic; there were no cases of anthrax, plague, rabies (human), Reye syndrome or yellow fever. The number of cases for hepatitis C represents prevalent cases during 2003, not incidence of new disease.

According to the disease report, theses numbers represent only a portion of all infectious diseases, because not all cases are reported. Because of this, these figures represent trends rather than actual incidences.