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FARMINGTON - Cases of the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia jumped 17 percent in Davis County last year.
That is the finding of a study released this week by the Davis County Health Department.
Chlamydia tops the county's list of communicable diseases with 510 reported cases in 2006.
Health experts say chlamydia's relatively mild symptoms allow it often to go undetected and untreated, spreading the infection and causing infertility.
County health officials also reported a rise in gonorrhea, logging 55 cases in 2006. Also sexually transmitted, gonorrhea ranks fifth on the county's communicable-disease roster.
"STD rates continue to be an ongoing concern," Davis County epidemiologist Brian Hatch said. "Last week, we had 20 cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea alone, and those are under-reported."
Most chlamydia cases go undiagnosed, and only half of gonorrhea cases register on the radar, according to the county report.
Of communicable diseases identified in Davis County in 2006, some 44 percent were STDs. Most cases were adults between ages 20 and 29, and 64 percent of all STD cases were women, the report said.
According to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chlamydia and gonorrhea can be cured with antibiotics.
Pregnant women can pass these untreated diseases to their newborns. Chlamydia can cause early infant pneumonia and pink eye. Gonorrhea can lead to blindness, joint infection or a life-threatening blood infection in babies.