Oregon HIV/STD/TB (HST) County Data 2004-2006

These fact sheets on reported cases of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis are produced by the Data and Analysis Section of the HIV/STD/TB Program (HST) in the Office of Disease Prevention and Epidemiology of Oregon Department of Human Services. They provide counts of reported cases of HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea, chlamydia, early syphilis and tuberculosis by county and certain case characteristics for the two most recent calendar years through the most recent quarter of the current year. In addition, HIV testing data are presented by county, test outcome, type of test (i.e. rapid vs. traditional antibody tests).

These county level data are presented with minimal interpretation specific to each county. For additional statewide disease trends please see our program site. Incidence rates by county are not calculated here because many of Oregon counties have small numbers of reported cases for diseases for which rates are likely to vary with small year-to-year variation in the absolute number of cases. In addition, where a categorical group population in a particular county, (e.g. African American women) is reasonably suspected to be <50 persons, or <5 cases have been reported within a three-year interval, case counts will not be reported at this level. For these counties, only the total number of cases per year is reported.

The data come from mandatory case reporting by laboratories and providers. Information on disease reporting rules in Oregon, for STD's, TB and HIV/AIDS are located online. 

For all disease reporting, a case is “assigned” to the county of residence for that individual at the time the case is reported; this may be different than the county where the key laboratory tests were performed or the diagnosis was made. In addition, delays between initial reporting and inclusion in state databases may occur. In the case of HIV, this delay may be as much as 6 months. For this reason cases counts for the current and most recently completed calendar year should be considered provisional. Sometimes, new HIV cases are reported many years after the initial diagnosis. In these instances the number of cases diagnosed for a particular year may continue to increment several years later.

Statewide for Oregon during 2004 – 2006 some important trends in HIV, sexually transmitted disease and tuberculosis include:

• The number of new HIV infections diagnosed by year of diagnosis has remained stable at approximately 300 per year, and the number of deaths have remained constant at approximately 100 per year.
• Approximately 59% of all reported cases of HIV infection were residents of Multnomah County at the time of their case report; Multnomah County accounts for 19% of Oregon’s estimated 2005 population.
• Persistently, approximately 40% of newly reported HIV infections have progressed to AIDS at the time of diagnosis or within 12 months.
• After a nadir of 151 newly diagnosed cases in 1999 and 142 in 2000, new HIV/AIDS diagnoses among men who have sex with men have risen >20% to 171 and 182 during 2004 and 2005.
• After a two-year increase, gonorrhea rates appear to have leveled off in 2006. In Oregon, at least a portion of the observed increase appears to be related to increased testing and more sensitive diagnostic tests. (Oregon DHS. Gonorrhea rates are up–NAATurally. CD Summary. December 13, 2005).
• Tuberculosis cases have declined in 2006 compared with 2004-­2005 for unknown reasons. Foreign born cases continue to predominate. (Oregon DHS. Welcome to Oregon! When was your last TB test? CD Summary. September 19, 2006).
• Early syphilis cases have declined from a recent high of 74 cases in 2004 to 55 and 57 in 2004-­2005 and appear to have dropped again in 2006 through the 3rd quarter. Most cases are occurring in men, many of whom report sex with other men.
• Chlamydia cases have increased in 2006. The reason is not known, but the increase cannot easily be attributed to increases in screening.

Each link contains information for all counties in Excel format.

Please note: Cases by age group, ethnicity, race and gender are not shown where there are less than 5 cases in a county or any subgroup populations of less than 50 persons. For these counties only total cases by year are tabulated.

Sexually Transmitted Disease Data

• Gonorrhea cases by County
• Syphilis cases by County
• Chlamydia cases by County

Tuberculosis Data

• Tuberculosis rates by county  

HIV/AIDS Data

• Incident case by Self-Reported Year of Diagnosis by County  
• Cases reported by Quarter
• State of Oregon HIV/AIDS Summary .pdf format  
  • Cases by Year of 1st Diagnosis
  • Oregon Living Cases
  • Diagnosis and Deaths
  • State Incidence
  • Prevalence by County
  • State Prevalence
  • Prevalence Demographics

HIV Testing and Counseling Data

• HIV Testing
  • By County of Residence
  • By County of Testing 

Please note: These are provisional reports based on actual cases reported as of [date of extraction] without adjustment for reporting delay. Up to 15% of case are reported >6 months after the date of diagnosis.

Cases by year of report may vary substantially from cases by year of diagnosis for multiple reasons. Doctors and laboratories were not required to report cases of HIV (not AIDS) in Oregon until 2001. Therefore a substantial number of cases diagnosed between 1983 and 2000 were not reported until 2001 or later leading to a large increase in reported cases after 2001. When counted by year of first diagnosis, these cases would be counted in earlier years (see p. 4 of 6 State of Oregon HIV/AIDS Summary. In addition, reporting delays often lead to reporting of a case in a different year than diagnosed.