MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A recent report citing 2013 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers found that Montgomery, Alabama is the most sexually diseased city in the nation. The capital city’s rates of STD’s outpaced the much larger cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and New Orleans.
Many news outlets have pounced on the data, anxious to name an Alabama city number one in yet another horrifying category. But, not so fast.
Though Montgomery’s numbers are alarming and nothing to boast about, a more careful examination of the numbers reveals that researchers at the CDC didn’t practice safe stats.
While the study reflects reports of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, the analysis left out data of some of the most common diseases: Herpes, Hepatitis B, and HPV.
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is currently the most widespread STD. Roughly three-quarters of the sexually active population will at some point be affected by HPV and a staggering one-quarter of sexually active women currently have it.
The state of Alabama currently ranks middle-of-the-pack in percentage of girls who have completed the HPV vaccine cycle with 65 percent of Alabama girls between the ages of 13-17 vaccinated.
The second most common STD in the United States, hepatitis B (or HBV), which afflicts more than 1.25 million individuals in the U.S. even though there is a vaccine, was also excluded.
To make comparisons across dissimilar areas, rates were measured per 100,000 people, and cities with a significant amount of population were chosen.
Montgomery, with a population of 201,332, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was reported to have the following cases, per 100,000:
. chlamydia: 3,039
. gonorrhea: 1,309
. syphilis: 23
. total STDs reported: 4,371
The statistics for the capital city are certainly a bad sign, but the “most diseased” label needs to be taken with several grains of salt. Any medical study that leaves off the most prominent occurrences is like a study of College football powerhouses that leaves off the Crimson Tide and Tigers.
