HealthDay News — According to the annual Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases have reached a record high in the United States in 2015.
There were 1,526,658 chlamydia cases, 395,216 cases of gonorrhea and 23,872 cases of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis — the most infectious stages of the disease, the report detailed.
The largest increase in reported STD cases between 2014 to 2015 occurred in P&S syphilis (19.0%), followed by gonorrhea (12.8%) and chlamydia (5.9%).
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Most STD cases go undiagnosed and untreated, putting people at risk for severe and potentially permanent health effects such as chronic pain, infertility and increased risk for HIV. In addition, STDs cost the US health care system nearly $16 billion a year, according to the report.
Young people ages 15 to 24 and men who have sex with men are at greatest risk for STDs and there continues to be increases in syphilis among newborns.
“We have reached a decisive moment for the nation,” Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said in an agency news release. “STD rates are rising, and many of the country’s systems for preventing STDs have eroded. We must mobilize, rebuild, and expand services — or the human and economic burden will continue to grow.”
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2015. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services; October 2016.
