US sexually transmitted disease epidemic worsening, CDC says
A U.S. sexually transmitted diseases epidemic is increasing and the most common infection, chlamydia, has risen to record levels, government officials say.
Reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis all increased in 2014. Chlamydia cases had dipped in 2013, but last year’s total of more than 1.4 million – or 456 cases per 100,000 – was the highest number of annual cases of any condition ever reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The chlamydia rate was up almost 3 percent from 2013, the CDC reported Tuesday.
Sexually transmitted diseases are among more than 70 diseases that are reportable to the CDC, including measles, chickenpox and tuberculosis. Flu is reported differently, by hospitalizations.
“America’s worsening STD epidemic is a clear call for better diagnosis, treatment, and prevention,” said the CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin.
Gonorrhea cases totaled 350,062, up 5 percent from 2013, and the most contagious forms of syphilis jumped 15 percent to 20,000. As in previous years, the syphilis increase was mainly in gay and bisexual men.
Most gonorrhea and chlamydia infections were in 15- to 24-year-olds, an ongoing trend. Both can cause infertility in women but can be treated with antibiotics. They often have no symptoms, and while yearly screening is recommended for sexually active women younger than 25, many don’t get tested and infections go untreated, the CDC said.
Filed under: General Problems
First, I am Not a fan of the CDC….but, this is truly a sad state of affairs…no pun intended. Society refuses a moral compass and these issues are the consequences. People put more thought into choosing a vehicle than a monogamous comitted relationship which includes love and devotion; In other words, MARRIAGE.
And just in case anyone wants to play the holier-than-thou card, I have lived laciviously when I was young and still carry the scars. It hurt my body, my soul and my marriage. Sunday we will celebrate 35 years of marriage. Tragically, these days we are rare.
I agree with you about our society’s lack of moral compass…but.. I don’t think that our Founding Fathers, nor the Constitution gives bureaucrats the authority to be the “morality police” I remember something in the founding paperwork about all of us having the rights of life… liberty… pursuit of happiness… do we wish for the bureaucrats to define what those words mean ?
Curiously, this was released the same day that Charlie Sheen announced he’d tested HIV-positive. Whatever-the-bleep that’s about…might be pure coincidence, then again, never underestimate a Hollywood publicist or a Beltway spin expert.
I’m beginning to think that the CDC is an agency full of really repressed and unhappy people.