Original studiesIs There a Seasonal Variation in Gonorrhea and Chlamydia in Adolescents?
Introduction
Seasonal variation in gonorrhea has been demonstrated,1, 2, 3, 4 with peak incidence occurring most commonly in the summer and early fall.1, 3, 4 These studies have included patients of all ages, without separating the adolescents from adults; consequently, little is known about the existence of a seasonal variation in the teenage population. The purpose of this study is to determine if such a variation exists in gonorrhea and chlamydia in female adolescents.
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Materials and Methods
A retrospective chart review of all 604 patients in a teen pregnancy prevention clinic in a small Midwestern city between January 1, 1993 and December 31, 1997 was performed. Patients consisted of females 21 years of age or younger of low socioeconomic status who were using or requesting hormonal contraception. Thirty percent were Caucasian and 70% were African-American. All were unmarried. Age distribution is shown in Figure 1.
Charts were examined for positive gonorrhea and/or chlamydia test
Results
Fifty-seven of 944 (6.04%) tests for gonorrhea and 109 of 944 (11.55%) tests for chlamydia were positive in 115 (19.0%) patients over the five-year period studied. The diagnosis of both gonorrhea and chlamydia was made in 31 (27%) patients, while 63 (54.8%) tested positive only for chlamydia and 21 (18.3%) for gonorrhea. Twenty-six (22.6%) had recurrent (>1) infections.
When the percent of positive tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia per season was evaluated, there were more cases (53/470) in fall
Discussion
Our data demonstrate that a seasonal variation exists in gonorrhea and chlamydia infections in the female adolescent population. There were more cases in the fall compared to the winter, spring, and summer, with a trend toward more cases in the summer than spring and winter. This is consistent with previous reports that have evaluated seasonal variation in STDs in adults.1, 2, 3, 4
Reasons for variation in STDs should correlate with those affecting sexual behavior. There may be hormonal
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