Sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infections declined 2% in Minnesota last year, but state health officials are uncertain whether that is because of underreporting amid the COVID-19 pandemic or an actual drop related to reduced sexual activity or other factors.
STD cases involving chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis declined 1% from 33,725 in 2019 to 33,252 in 2020, while new HIV infections dropped 18% from 276 in 2019 to 226 in 2020 — despite the discovery of two distinct HIV outbreaks in Minneapolis and Duluth over the past three years.
State health officials urged people who are sexually active, or who engage in high-risk activities such as shared needle usage, to receive regular testing and to complete any treatments they receive for diagnosed infections.
"It is also really important to get tested regularly for HIV and STDs, and if you are diagnosed with HIV, to take and stay on treatment to make the levels of virus undetectable," said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, state epidemiologist. "This is so essential, because people living with HIV who are taking their medications and have an undetectable viral load do not pass HIV through sex."
Minnesota's STD numbers had routinely reached record levels each year, largely through increases in diagnosed cases of chlamydia — an infection that often results in mild or no initial symptoms but can lead to infertility in women and other complications. But chlamydia rates declined in 2020 — the first such annual decline since 2009.
Gonorrhea infections make up a smaller amount of Minnesota's STDs, but they increased 27% in 2020 and exceeded 10,000 in the state for the first time.
Public health officials continued to respond to an outbreak of syphilis identified in 2020 in Beltrami and Cass counties, but noted that the number of new infections appears to be leveling off.
STDs are generally treatable with antibiotics. Minnesota provides a partner services program in which public health workers will help to notify sexual partners at risk and connect them with options for testing and prophylactic antibiotic treatment.
The state estimates that 9,422 people in Minnesota are living with HIV, some of whom have AIDS — the disease that is diagnosed when the infection depletes the immune system.
An HIV outbreak in the Twin Cities dates back to initial cases in 2018 while an outbreak identified just this year in the Duluth area traces back to initial cases in 2019. New HIV infections have primarily been associated with shared needle usage, homelessness, men who have sex with other men, and people who exchange sex for money or shelter.
Jeremy Olson • 612-673-7744