Toledo has the 48th highest sexually transmitted infection (STI) rate of all cities in the U.S., according to a report by Innerbody Research, Inc., a California-based collective of researchers, scientists, and medical professionals. Interbody used 2023 data gathered by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The primary STIs affecting the Toledo area are chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, the last of which is on the rise nationwide. The U.S. has experienced a 28.6 percent rise in syphilis since the CDC’s last annual study.
The statistics for northwest Ohio mirror national trends, particularly regarding syphilis. In 2023, 70 percent of cases in Ohio were found in men who have sex with other men, over 60 percent of cases were reported in people 40 and younger, and 48 percent of cases last year were African American.
“Toledo is the hub of people who actually travel to other areas,” said Donna Fox, an HIV and STI Prevention and Management Specialist for Lucas County. Fox referenced I-475 and I-75 passing through the city as contributing factors to Toledo’s high rates of STIs.
According to Fox, 42 percent of the individuals with syphilis met their partner online and 12 percent contracted the illness through transactional sex. "They may be exchanging it for a safe place to sleep, they may be exchanging it for drugs, so a variety of ways that transactional sex is there,” Fox explained.
Danielle Van Fleet, HIV testing coordinator for UTMC, said one issue affecting college students’ sexual health is insurance, noting “an explanation of benefits will be sent home to the guardians and will likely say something about a sexual health screening or sexual health testing or something, and if that person isn’t comfortable talking to their guardians about their sexuality or their sex practices, that’s going to bring up a conversation they might not really be willing to have and might not be safe for them.”
Yet another barrier to sexual health is the stigma around getting tested.
“It’s important that we’re not shaming about sex practices, you know, it’s just we want people to be more educated,” Van Fleet said. “Ohio is an abstinence only state, meaning that the schools only have to teach abstinence. They can teach more if they choose.”
Nationwide, there were 220 cases of infant death due to prenatal syphilis in 2023, with this disproportionately affecting people of color.
According to the Innerbody Research report, “nearly 90 percent of these cases of newborn syphilis were preventable through testing and treatment during pregnancy.” The report cites lack of health insurance, lack of public health infrastructure, housing insecurity, and substance abuse disorders as the primary causative factors of the uneven distribution of STIs.
UT resources include the Sexuality Health Clinic, which provides free HIV testing, condoms, pregnancy tests, and sexual health information. The recurring event is hosted in Carlson Library room 1009, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., on each first and third Tuesday of the month.
Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio provides STI/HIV testing and treatment, emergency contraceptives, and free safe sex materials such as condoms.
For more information, call 419-255-1115 or visit Planned Parenthood at 1301 Jefferson Ave. All Ohio residents 16 and older can go to OHIV.org and order free discreetly packaged condoms right to their doorstep.
