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The rate of syphilis among pregnant women in the U.S. has more than tripled in recent years, according to new research that helps shed light on an even greater surge of babies born with the potentially deadly infection. The U.S. rate of maternal syphilis cases rose 221.6%, from 87.2 infections per 100,000 births in 2016 to 280.4 per 100,000 in 2022, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. During the same time frame, the total number of annual cases rose from 3,431 to 10,232

Part of the reason cases of syphilis — as well as other STIs — are rising is because public health efforts to control these diseases are underfunded.

Gonorrhea and syphilis cases reached record levels during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data released Tuesday from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The latest figures — part of an ongoing upward trend — follow Congress’ decision last month to provide far less funding to sexual health clinics that provide free and subsidized testing for sexually transmitted diseases, education, contraception and other services than providers say is needed to reverse the current course Gonorrhea cases increased 10 percent in 2020, and syphilis infections were up 7 percent. Congenital syphilis, which had all but disappeared in...

“My boyfriend can’t get over how many people I’ve slept with. I shouldn’t have told him, but he pressed me for the info. He was 'nerdy’ for most of high school and college, and just started coming into his own in his mid to late 20s. I have been dating consistently for years, and have had my fair share of hookups and relationships. And while I don’t think my number is crazy at all, he can’t deal with the discrepancy. We’ve been dating for two years and we’re serious. I don’t want to break up. How can I handle this?”...

A new survey of English men who have sex with men (MSM) who were diagnosed with a recently acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection found that 40 percent were HIV-negative, aidsmap reports. Multiple studies have indicated that in Western nations, there has been a rising epidemic of sexually transmitted HCV among HIV-positive MSM since about the turn of the millennium. Hep C does apparently transmit sexually among MSM who do not have HIV but traditionally has done so at a much lower and more stable rate than among their HIV-positive peers. More recent studies have found, however, that hep C...

Lonely millennials, you are not alone! A new survey found that over half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 do not have a romantic partner. In spite of the recent rise of dating apps, more young people than ever remain single, according to data released by the General Social Survey from researchers at the University of Chicago.

Making the click-through worthwhile: Presidential candidate Kamala Harris laments that the country has not had an honest conversation about race for a long time, Does the 2020 Democratic crew sound like a return to normalcy? Last week, Kamala Harris declared, “For too long, frankly in our country, for too long we have not had these honest discussions about race. We’ve just not.” ..................................................... Really? After Charlottesville, Ferguson, Baltimore’s riots, Ralph Northam, Jussie Smollett, Roseanne Barr, Kanye West’s various rants, Philando Castile, #BlackLivesMatter, the Dallas police shootings, the Charleston church shooting, the removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina state-capitol...

The number of people diagnosed with HIV in Ireland is rising amid concerns that ambivalence about the disease is putting increasing numbers of people at risk. A record 512 cases of HIV were diagnosed in the State last year. Rates have been rising steadily since 2011, with experts saying “complacency and risk-taking” among a younger generation is contributing to the rising numbers. “This generation hasn’t grown up with the legacy or even the reality of HIV,” said HIV Ireland executive director, Niall Mulligan. “It was a massive issue in the 1980s and we were aware of it. We were very...

Half of gay and bisexual black men and a quarter of gay and bisexual Hispanic men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetimes, the Centers for Disease Control announced in a first-of-its-kind study on Tuesday.

National Enquirer online of Feb. 4, 2016, has an article by J.R. Taylor saying Bill Clinton is "battling brain damage": Bill Clinton's battle with a tragic brain disease is sparking fears he won't live to see the November elections! "Bill is clearly not the same person he was a year ago, or even six months ago," a political spy told The National ENQUIRER. "He is much slower physically, and he suffers periodic mental lapses." Before you sneer that National Enquirer is a trashy supermarket tabloid, recall that it was this humble tabloid alone which broke the story on former...

Was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart murdered by Italian composer and contemporary Antonio Salieri? Rumors have persisted since Mozart’s death in 1791. But the idea truly went global nearly 200 years later with the appearance of Peter Shaffer’s fictionalized account of the life and death of Mozart as seen through the eyes of his contemporary and competitor Salieri in Amadeus, first the Tony award-winning play in 1979, and the then the film of the same name by Milos Foreman which won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1985. Scholars have largely and uniformly debunked the theory, including Shaffer’s portrayal of Salieri as...

Alcohol Tax Hike in US 'Lowers Gonorrhea Rates' Tax hikes could help prevent sexually transmitted infections, scientists have claimed, after cases of gonorrhea fell 24% in Maryland since the introduction of alcohol price increases. According research by the University of Florida, since tax increases on alcohol largely decrease consumption, and less excessive drinking reduces 'risky' sexual behaviour, STI rates can be positively impacted by the measure. Researchers claim that in the 18 months after Maryland increased its alcohol taxes from 6% to 9%, there were 2,400 fewer statewide cases of gonorrhea. The team used data from the National Notifiable Disease...

In a disturbing piece published in NY Mag, Michael Sonmore said that he's okay with his wife having sex with random men because he's a feminist. The article is titled, "What Open Marriage Taught One Man About Feminism" and details Sonmore's "open" relationship with his wife. It begins with this paragraph (emphasis mine): "As I write this, my children are asleep in their room, Loretta Lynn is on the stereo, and my wife is out on a date with a man named Paulo. It’s her second date this week; her fourth this month so far. If it goes like the...

Over a third of Americans have a venereal disease, according to the CDC. At the present rate, those who have problems with their personal equipment will surpass those with jobs by the end of Obama’s second term. The CDC finding that 110,197,000 Americans have an STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) was reported by CNS News. In 2008, the last year reported, 19.8 million Americans contracted STIs. “CDC’s new estimates show that there are about 20 million new infections in the United States each year, costing the American healthcare system nearly $16 billion in direct medical costs alone,” said a CDC fact...

In the name of public health Nanny Bloomberg in New York City won't let his subjects gulp down a 16-ounce soda or light up a cigarette at a bar but as the HIV epidemic continues unabated it's apparently still okay to cruise for anonymous sex among the maze-like corriders of the East and West Side Clubs where gay men can rent claustrophobic cubicles for their presumed hookups. A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concludes that "one in five gay men in the United States has HIV, and almost half of those who carry the...

Anti-Prostitution Posters, World War II Emphasizing the relationship between patriotism, morality, health preservation, and disease prevention, images of the infected soldier and disease-carrying prostitute in posters during the First and Second World Wars came to symbolize both moral failure and social decay. The following posters use images of "loose" women, patriotic iconography, and frightening symbols to grab the attention of the viewer and inspire behavior modification. These images not only reflected attitudes, values, and beliefs about the causes and consequences of venereal disease but also affected responses to the problem. (Note: Most these photos link back to Retronaut; added are...

The arms race between humanity and disease-causing bacteria is drawing to a close—and the bacteria are winning. The latest evidence: gonorrhea is becoming resistant to all standard antibiotic treatment. Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world—with about 600,000 cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. A few years ago, investigators started seeing cases of infection that did not easily respond to treatment with a group of drugs called cephalosporins, which are currently the last line of defense against this particular infection. Now, the number of drug-resistant cases has grown so much in the U.S....

Sluthood wasn't always considered a virtue. Most normal, rational people look at sleeping around as something sad and wrong. It's not healthy, physically or mentally, it can be damaging to a young girl's reputation, and it can also be incredibly dangerous. Women that sleep around oftentimes end up feeling used and regret their choices when they get older and decide to settle down. Other women end up contracting STDs, which may or may not be treatable. For these reasons and more, being a slut is understandably looked down upon -- it can be genuinely harmful. Today's pseudo-feminists, however, have...

Just in case you thought there was a limit to the vulgarity of Paul Begala . . . Bill Clinton's former adviser was a guest on the Situation Room this aftern0on on CNN. Talk turned to the strategy Republicans should adopt in upcoming special elections. WOLF BLITZER: How much of a lightning rod -- you're an expert on this subject -- will Hillary Clinton be for Republicans out there, cause they're already, in some of these special elections that are coming up, they're already pointed to her to try to help Republican candidates? View video here.