[Whites in Memphis are about 1/3rd of the population. I was there in 2019. I find it very sad to see Whites in America outnumbered. It's a small taste of what happened to us here in Africa. Jan]

Report: Memphis tops the country in sexually transmitted infection rates

Corinne S Kennedy

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis tops the nation in the rate of sexually transmitted infections, according to a new analysis of federal data.

A report by Innerbody Research, based on the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ― which includes comprehensive 2020 data ― shows an uptick of reported STI cases in the Bluff City.

Here are four things to know about the situation.

Memphis specifics

Based on the most recent CDC data, Memphis moved from No. 12 to No. 1. The city is seeing 1,460 reported STI cases per 100,000 people. That includes 9,681 chlamydia cases and 4,772 gonorrhea cases per 100,000. Statistics for some common STIs, including herpes, are not tracked by the CDC and thus are not part of the report.

The Shelby County Health Department did not respond to a request for comment on the increased transmission rate.

Data illuminates racial, socio-economic disparities

Innerbody Research co-founder and CEO Eric Rodriguez said the CDC data as a whole shows a disproportional burden of sexually transmitted infections on non-white communities.

“For example, though non-Hispanic Black people comprise approximately 12% of the total population of the country, they account for a disproportionate 32% of chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea infections,” he said in an email.

Last year, Leandro Mena, director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, also said data showing the continuing upward trend of infections highlighted the impacts of disparities on healthcare outcomes.

“The COVID-19 pandemic increased awareness of a reality we’ve long known about STDs. Social and economic factors — such as poverty and health insurance status — create barriers, increase health risks, and often result in worse health outcomes for some people,” Mena said.

What do the top 10 cities have in common?

Rodriguez said the factors contributing to high rates of STI spread vary from community to community. But, cities at the top of the list share some commonalities, including high population density, limited access to healthcare, widespread stigma around sexual health, lack of comprehensive sex education and higher rates of intravenous drug use.

There was also some geographic grouping to the cities with the 10 highest rates of new infection. Most were clustered in the South ― Memphis (1), Jackson, Mississippi (2), Columbia, South Carolina (3), New Orleans (6) and Little Rock, Arkansas (8) ― or along the Eastern seaboard ― Baltimore (4), Philadelphia (5), Washington, D.C., (9) and Norfolk, Virginia (10).

The one geographic outlier was Milwaukee (7).

(Memphis 64.6% black, Jackson, Mississippi 78.55% black, Columbia, South Carolina 38.09% black, New Orleans 53.61 % black, Little Rock, Arkansas 40.15% black, Baltimore 62.4% black, Philadelphia 38.3% black, Washington, D.C., 41.4 % black, Norfolk, Virginia 39.31% black, and Milwaukee37.8% black.)

National STI trends

Memphis fits into a larger national trend of an increase in STIs.

Preliminary 2021 data show steady increases of gonorrhea, syphilis and congenital syphilis across the country. There was also an increase in cases of chlamydia, following a drop in cases in 2020. CDC officials have said the 2020 drop could have been due to a dip in screening during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.