Gonorrhea as a Social Disease

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Gonococcal infection in Colorado Springs, Colorado [USA], is concentrated in .apprx. 1% of the population. The social groups at risk are characterized as young, nonwhite, heterosexual and connected to the military. They exhibit residential proximity by clustering in core census tracts; 51% of cases were in 4 tracts. They demonstrate residential stability and close social association at preferred sites for nighttime leisure activity (6 major sites of 300 available). Social aggregation is further demonstrated by the length of social contact prior to sexual contact (45% had known each other for over 2 mo.), the neighborhood nature of sexual choices and the grouping of sexually connected individuals in lots (6 lots contained 20% of cases). The force of infectivity, measured in person-days of potential spread of gonorrhea by infected contacts, provides a quantitative assessment of the importance of identifiable social groups in the transmission of gonorrhea.