Common STDs Hit New U.S. Record

US News & World Report ^ | August 28, 2018 | Joseph P. Williams

[Diana in Wisconsin]

In a disturbing national trend, the number of three common sexually transmitted diseases hit a record high last year, with nearly 2.3 million cases reported in the U.S. – eclipsing the record set in 2016 by more than 200,000 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Comparing data from 2013 with 2017's preliminary data showed "steep, sustained increases" in reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, the CDC said, also warning that gonorrhea is showing signs of becoming resistant to the antibiotics used to treat it.

"We are sliding backward," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in a statement. "It is evident the systems that identify, treat, and ultimately prevent STDs are strained to near-breaking point."

The findings were released Tuesday at the National STD Prevention Conference in Washington, D.C.

Along with dramatic increases in syphilis cases (up 76 percent from 2013) and chlamydia cases (a 45 percent increase among girls and women 15 to 24 years old), CDC officials said they are concerned about a spike in gonorrhea. The number of cases went up 67 percent overall but nearly doubled in men, from 169,130 cases in 2013 to 322,169 cases in 2017.

The disease also has spread among women for the third year in a row and went from 197,499 cases reported in 2013 to 232,587 cases in 2017, according to a CDC press release.

Though STDs are usually treated with antibiotics, "most cases go undiagnosed and untreated," the CDC said. The agency noted earlier studies have pointed to a range of factors that could be tied to STD increases, "including socioeconomic factors like poverty, stigma, and discrimination; and drug use."

Meanwhile, researchers are worried about the looming threat of an "untreatable" form of gonorrhea that is evolving over time in the U.S., even as an antibiotic-resistant strain has emerged overseas.

New CDC findings show the share of gonorrhea samples that are resistant to azithromycin – prescribed for the disease to stave off its resistance to the separate antibiotic ceftriaxone – has quadrupled, from 1 percent in 2013 to more than 4 percent in 2017.

"We expect gonorrhea will eventually wear down our last highly effective antibiotic, and additional treatment options are urgently needed," Dr. Gail Bolan, director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention, said in a statement. "We can't let our defenses down – we must continue reinforcing efforts to rapidly detect and prevent resistance as long as possible."

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I honestly expected the rates to be higher on either coast where all the Socialists live. Wonder what gives?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“It almost as if God has our best interests in Mind.”

Works every time it’s tried! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

And I’m sure you’re not alone in your profession.

How sad. :(

[Bob Ireland]

***Dims contributions to American Culture ... what have I left out?***

THE MEDIA! Good grief; movies, TV, video games, www, news stand... We are drowning in Masters & Johnson sex, sex, sex. Our youth think it comes with lunch. The media have them thinking 25% of the country is homosexual and at least 10% are trans-sexual. Even the behavioral sciences are counseling that if you are not having sex with your household pets YOU are the sexual deviant.
I'll retire to Bedlam.

[blueplum]

according to a 2016 CDC report, 90% of the new cases of syphilis and gono were a result of men on men sex. Predominantly men of color. Poverty isn't a factor: when poverty falls, disease should fall but it's increased so we can count that out. Under political hammer of "the birthplace of civil rights" combined with a majority of female-headed households easily swayed politically by activist pastors, there is more widespread cultural acceptance in the South for open homosexuality in general. So, the South became a magnet for gays, whether it be Dallas, Atlanta or Key West. Then there's recently introduced migrants who tend to gravitate to the temperate climate. They come from areas where homosexuality was publicly suppressed and casual encounters are the norm, but here in the US it's like kids in a candy store - a free-for-all with dozens of gay clubs in every urban area. Add in lack of knowledge about STD prevention, a good helping of 'it won't happen to me' and even the not-uncommon "hooker revenge" attitude of 'well if I have XYZ disease, everybody should have it", and we get an epidemic that is uncontrolled and politically incorrect to talk about.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for the explanation. Very sad state of affairs, as it were. :(