title: Gonorrhoea positivity among women aged 15-24 years in the USA, 2005-2007.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the epidemiology of young women screened for gonorrhoea in the USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on tests for gonorrhoea among women aged 15-24 years attending family planning clinics from 2005 to 2007 were obtained through the infertility prevention project. Clinics testing 90% or more of women for gonorrhoea and sending 50 or more gonorrhoea tests per year were included. Gonorrhoea positivity on a state and county level was calculated and compared by age and race/ethnicity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,119,394 tests from 948 clinics was eligible for inclusion. Median state-specific gonorrhoea positivity was 1.3% (IQR 0.7-2.0%). Positivity was higher among women aged 15-19 years (1.4%, IQR 0.9-2.6%) than among those aged 20-24 years (1.1%, IQR 0.6-1.4%, p=0.03) and among non-Hispanic black women (3.8%, IQR 3.2-4.6%) than non-Hispanic white women (0.6%, IQR 0.4-0.8%, p<0.0001). Half of all gonorrhoea cases in these women originated from 57 of 753 counties. Among non-Hispanic white women, positivity was 2.0% or greater in 4% of counties, while 83% of counties had gonorrhoea positivity of less than 1.0%. Gonorrhoea positivity among non-Hispanic black women was 2.0% or greater in 58% of counties, and less than 1.0% in only one-third of counties. These disparities were present diffusely across the geographical areas included in this analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gonorrhea positivity was consistently high for young non-Hispanic black women attending family planning clinics across multiple geographical regions. A large proportion of gonorrhoea morbidity was concentrated in a relatively small number of counties in the USA among this population of young women.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Bureau, New Mexico Department of Health, 1190 St Francis Drive, Runnels Building S1157, Santa Fe, NM 87502, USA. linda.gorgos@state.nm.us
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gorgos
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Satterwhite
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: Hillard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weinstock
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult