The number of people in the United States with one or more sexually transmitted diseases has reached an all-time high in 2016, federal experts say. 2015 and 2014 were also record-setting years for STDs in the U.S.
The number of Americans diagnosed with chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis reached a record high in 2016 for the second year in a row, with more than 2 million cases reported and particularly high rates in California, according to federal data released Tuesday.
Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that in 2016, there were more than 2 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis diagnosed. Chlamydia made up the most new cases, at 1.6 million infections. The CDC believes the reported cases are likely an underestimate, and that closer to 20 million new cases of the infections occur every year in the U.S.
“Increases in STDs are a clear warning of a growing threat,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said in a statement. “STDs are a persistent enemy, growing in number, and outpacing our ability to respond.”
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Women, but especially men, both experienced increases in gonorrhea cases. Gonorrhea has become an STD of great concern, since the infection is increasingly growing resistant to the drugs used to treat it.
The CDC recommends that sexually active women under age 25, or women with risk factors like a new sex partner, or multiple sex partners, should get yearly chlamydia and gonorrhea tests and be tested for HIV if they’ve never been tested. For men who have sex with men, the CDC recommends yearly tests for syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. If men have other risk factors, like multiple sex partners, the CDC recommends testing every three to six months. ( (Sources: CDC / LA Times / Time)
