Gonorrhea Outbreak in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) continues to monitor diseases of public health significance, including sexually transmitted infections. In Hastings Prince Edward Counties, the rate of gonorrhea has been steadily rising each of the past 5 years. 26 cases were reported from Jan-May 2020, compared to 15 cases during the same time last year. HPEPH uses 5 years of case history to predict the number of expected cases of gonorrhea each month. An outbreak is declared when the number of observed cases of gonorrhea exceeds the regular range (more than 2 standard deviation above the mean). As current cases exceed this range. HPEPH is declaring a gonorrhea outbreak in our region.
HPEPH has been working diligently to respond to this information by continuing thorough case and contact management for gonorrhea despite COVID-19 office closures, and we are in the process of developing a plan to offer self-serve testing kits for clients. It is also important to note that although we normally think of youth when screening for STIs, 49% of cases reported from Jan-May 2020 were between 30 to 49 years old.
In response to this outbreak, we are asking health care providers to:
- Lower your threshold for suspicion when testing for gonorrhea, especially in older age groups, and revisit talking about STI testing and protection with all clients.
- Treat with first-line therapy: Ceftriaxone 250mg IM + Azithromycin 1g PO.
- Consider adding culture, in addition to NAAT, to enable monitoring of local antimicrobial susceptibility trends.
Please refer to the Ontario Gonorrhea Testing and Treatment Guide, 2nd Edition, November 2018 for further guidance on testing and treatment. In addition, access our Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Treatment Reference Guide.
Order free STI medication using the HPEPH Vaccine/STI order form.
If you have any questions, please call our Sexual Health Information Line at 613-966-5500 x243.
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