Sharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases — including a 26% rise in new syphilis infections reported last year — are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.
This 1966 microscope photo made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a tissue sample with the presence of numerous Treponema pallidum spirochetes, the bacterium responsible for causing syphilis.
Infections rates for some STDs, including gonorrhea and syphilis, have been rising for years. Last year the rate of syphilis cases reached its highest since 1991 and the total number of cases hit its highest since 1948. HIV cases are also on the rise, up 16% last year. Officials are working on new approaches to the problem, such as home-test kits for some STDs that will make it easier for people to learn they are infected and to take steps to prevent spreading it to others, Mena said.“It’s pretty simple. More sexually transmitted infections occur when people are having more unprotected sex,” said Dr. Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
But by 2002 cases began rising again, largely among gay and bisexual men, and they kept going. In late 2013, CDC ended its elimination campaign in the face of limited funding and escalating cases, which that year surpassed 17,000.The rate of cases has been rising, too, hitting about 16 per 100,000 people last year. That’s the highest in three decades.
The increases in syphilis and other STDs may have several causes, experts say. Testing and prevention efforts have been hobbled by years of inadequate funding, and spread may have gotten worse — especially during the pandemic — as a result of delayed diagnosis and treatment. Drug and alcohol use may have contributed to risky sexual behavior. Condom use has been declining.
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‘Out of control’ STD situation prompts national call for changesLast year the rate of syphilis cases reached its highest since 1991 and the total number of cases hit its highest since 1948. HIV cases are also on the rise, up 16% last year.
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‘Out of control’ STD situation prompts call for changesSharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.
Read more »
'Out of control' STD situation prompts call for changesSharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts
Read more »
‘Out of control’ STD situation prompts call for changesSharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.
Read more »
'Out of control' STD situation prompts call for changesSharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases — including a 26% rise in new syphilis infections reported last year — are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.
Read more »