Gonorrhea and syphilis infections in Alberta still at outbreak levels

Sexually transmitted infectionsin Alberta are still at outbreak levels and health experts want the provincial government to spend more on prevention.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Karen Grimsrud,saidhealth providersneed to find new ways to reach at-risk groups, including young aboriginal women.

"A newer way of looking at this is a more targeted approach through our community organizations ... that have daily contact with this particular population," she said.

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There were roughly 3,400 cases of gonorrhea reported in Alberta in 2015, which marked an 80 per centincrease from 2014.

Full data for 2016 isn't yet available, but from January to November last year, there were 3,390 cases across the province, according to Alberta Health.

Half of those infectionswere in the Edmonton health zone, which saw 1,695 reported cases of gonorrhea in the first 11 months of last year.

The Calgary health zone, by contrast, saw 830 cases in the same period.

It's a similar story for infectious syphilis, with 350 cases reported in 2015, which doubled the count in 2014.

In the first 11 months of 2016, there were 360 cases of syphilis, 169 of which were in Edmonton.

Complex problem

Grimsrudsays there's no one solution to the STI problem.

Pam Krause, who runs the Calgary Sexual Health Centre,wants the province to put more money towardprevention and intervention that will see infection rates decline.

"I think the biggest thing now is there's a different government in place, a government that understands prevention, and so I think we're starting to see things change," she said.

Right now, young women are still at high risk of chlamydiaand more young gay men are contracting HIV.

"So if you don't have any information around that when you're a young person, it's very hard for that to be part of your overallkind of health as you move forward," said Krause.

Krause also says the numbers could mean more people are aware and are getting tested.

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