Gonorrhea cases are up significantly in Erie County, ending a three-year decline for the sexually transmitted disease.

Two hundred and four gonorrhea cases were reported to the Erie County Department of Health during the first six months of 2011. That’s nearly three times more cases than were found during the first half of 2010.

Still, public-health officials aren’t ready to panic.

“The numbers so far in 2011 are not alarming,” said Charlotte Berringer, R.N., the county Health Department’s director of community health, pointing out that 2010 was “one of our better years for STDs.”

Gonorrhea cases had been on the decline in Erie County since 2007, when 521 were reported. It also was the year Erie County’s rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia, another common STD, set all-time highs.

Only 168 gonorrhea cases were reported in all of 2010.

Berringer said she doesn’t know why gonorrhea cases have increased in 2011. Cases of chlamydia also are on the rise, with 656 cases reported from January through June 2011, compared to 530 during the same period of 2010.

Three cases of syphilis, a more serious STD that can be life-threatening if not treated, were reported in Erie County in May and June. five cases have been reported in 2011, one more than the same period in 2010.

“We usually see between two and seven cases of syphilis a year, so that number is not unusual,” Berringer said.

Most STDs can be treated with antibiotics, but people often don’t realize they have one because symptoms aren’t always obvious, said Fred Havko, M.D., a Saint Vincent Health Center emergency physician.

“Women in particular might not have any symptoms of gonorrhea or chlamydia until later, when an infection develops in their pelvis,” Havko said. “By that time, it’s a pretty serious disease.”

Untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea can scar a woman’s fallopian tubes, which can cause infertility, Havko said.

Most gonorrhea and chlamydia cases are found in teenagers and young adults, so college health centers are often on the front lines in the battle against STDs.

“We serve a high-risk population of 18- to 25-year-olds, so we act proactively,” said Darla Elder, R.N., director of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania’s Ghering Health & Wellness Center. “We educate students on risk behaviors, we test them when they have a positive risk factor, and we treat anyone with a positive result.”

Both the Ghering center and the STD clinic at the county Health Department will help someone with an STD contact all of their sexual partners.

It’s an important step toward limiting an STD outbreak, Berringer said.

Not having sex is the only foolproof way to avoid getting gonorrhea or chlamydia. But there are ways to reduce your risk of an STD if you are sexually active.

“The best prevention is to use a condom, though those aren’t 100 percent effective,” Berringer said. “That’s why it’s so important to get tested and get treated.”

DAVID BRUCE can be reached at 870-1736 or by e-mail.