Don’t try to get lucky in these 5 counties with the most diseases in NJ

Do you want the good news or the bad news? I’ll start with the good news since there is so little of that to be had here in New Jersey. Here it goes…

The good news:
In the most recent CDC report on sexually transmitted diseases (yes, believe it or not, they keep track of this stuff), many STD cases were found to have decreased in number in the year 2021. For instance, all told, HIV diagnoses have decreased by 805 cases in 2021. Also, cases of chlamydia are down by 31,649

The bad news:
Other types of sexually transmitted diseases are still prevalent in NJ. And many are increasing according to the state Department of Health. And 5 counties in NJ top the list of having the most STDs in the state.

I did a sexually transmitted disease data query in the New Jersey Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System (CDRSS) database maintained by the New Jersey Department of Health. Don’t ask me why. But the results are so interesting.

All told in 2021, 47,191 cases of sexually transmitted diseases were reported in New Jersey to the database maintained by the Sexually Transmitted Disease Program, HIV, STD, and TB Services of the New Jersey Department of Health. Of those, I decided to look at the numbers county by county.

According to the numbers, Essex County leads the pack in cases by almost DOUBLE those of the number 2 county, Camden.

Essex County reported 8339 STDs in 2021, while Camden County had “only” 4,972.

Rounding out the top 5 counties for STDs were Hudson with 4380 cases, Passaic with 3632, and Middlesex with a comparatively paltry 3,313.

Are these numbers surprising to you? They should be. Because according to my calculations, that’s a total of 24636 cases of sexually transmitted diseases in just these five counties. That means that the remaining 22,555 reported STD cases in the state are spread out over the other SIXTEEN counties. What’s going on in those 5 counties?? FIVE counties have nearly HALF of all the cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the whole state.

There is no geographical rhyme or reason for this and no explanation I can even think of. The only thing I will say is this: If I were you, next time I'm looking to get lucky, I’d probably stay away from those five!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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