Pediatric gonococcal infection, Florida, 1984 to 1988

We reviewed Florida pediatric gonococcal (GC) infection surveillance data collected between 1984 and 1988. The incidence rate was 11 per 100,000 per year for the age group 1 month through 9 years. Incidence rates were higher for females, other-than-Whites, and residents of rural counties than for males, Whites, and residents of urban counties. The ratio of pediatric GC cases in children younger than 10 years per 1000 adult male GC cases, a substitute measure for the proportion of males that may have perpetrated child sexual abuse, was 3.3 for Whites and 4.9 for other-than-Whites, and was higher for residents of nonmetropolitan counties (9.7) than for residents of metropolitan counties (4.2). These data highlight the importance of GC infection in children and suggest that routine surveillance of pediatric GC infection may be a useful tool for monitoring the occurrence of child sexual abuse.