[Table of Contents]

Volume: 26S6 - October 2000

1998/1999 Canadian Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Surveillance Report

Introduction

Since the previous Canadian STD annual report⁽¹⁾ there have been some notable changes in the trends of STD in Canada. In 1998 there were increases in all the national notifiable STDs - genital chlamydia, gonorrhea, and infectious syphilis.

The use of nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAAT) for testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea has become widespread in Canada over the last 2 years. Since 1997, all provinces/territories except one used NAAT at least sometimes for testing for chlamydia, and all but three for gonorrhea. It was anticipated that widespread use of NAAT would increase case-finding of STD, especially among males, and this appears to be the case.

In 1999, reported chlamydia, gonococcal and infectious syphilis cases accounted for 44% of all notifiable diseases reported to Health Canada (Figure 1).

FIGURE 1 STD in Canada as a Proportion of all Notifiable Diseases, 1999^*

^* preliminary data

Source: Division of Disease Surveillance, Health Canada, 2000

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