New infections of sexually transmitted diseases, including a 26% rise in new syphilis reported last year, are prompting U.S.health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.
The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a speech Monday that it was important to rebuild, innovate, and expand STD prevention in the U.S.
Rates of infections for STDs have been increasing for years. The rate of syphilis cases increased last year, and the total number of cases increased for the first time in more than 60 years. The number of HIV cases is on the rise.
The nation's worsening problem with diseases spread mostly through sex has been highlighted by an international outbreak of monkeypox.
David Harvey is the executive director of the National Coalition of STD directors.
New approaches to the problem include home-test kits for STDs that will make it easier for people to find out they have the STD and take steps to prevent it from spreading.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks STIs, including chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Although infections like chlamydia, for example, are highest among adolescents and young adults, a 2020 study shows that STIs in general among older adults have “dramatically increased in recent years, especially among those who are widowed and divorced.” The study authors point out that STIs have “more than doubled in the past 10 years among U.S. adults age 65 years and older.” There’s no such thing as being too old to get a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Despite that, there’s “a misconception” that older adults are “immune to STIs simply because they're over the age of 55 and that's not going to happen to them anymore,” Dr. Ina Park, associate professor of family community medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STIs, tells Yahoo Life. Park wants older adults to know that you can get an STI “regardless of your age.” Quoting HIV research scientist Dr. Stephen Karpiak, Park says, “Age is not a condom.” In fact, according to Park, “You might be surprised to know that STIs are going up for everybody, including for people over the age of 55.”
A core part of any effort must be increased use of condoms.
It's easy. Dr. Mike Saag is an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
If left unattended, syphilis can lead to severe symptoms and even death if not treated.
The U.S. experienced a decline in new infections of the sexually transmitted disease. In 1998 there were less than 7,000 new cases nationwide. The CDC launched a plan to eliminate syphilis in the U.S. because of the progress it had made.
Gay and bisexual men were the main contributors to the rise in cases by 2002. The CDC ended its elimination campaign due to limited funding and an increase in cases.
More than 52,000 cases were reported last year, an increase from the previous year.
The rate of cases has gone up in the last year. That's the highest it's been in a long time.
Black and Hispanic Americans and Native Americans have higher rates of sex with men. The rate for women is lower than it is for men, but it's risen more recently.
Congenital syphilis is a problem because it can lead to death of the child or health problems such as deafness and blindness. The number of congenital syphilis cases has more than doubled in the last 10 years. There were over 200 stillbirths or infant deaths last year.
Experts say that the increases in STDs may be due to a number of factors. Testing and prevention efforts have been hobbled by years of inadequate funding and may have gotten worse due to delayed diagnosis and treatment. It is possible that drug and alcohol use contributed to sexual behavior. There has been a decline in condom use.
There may have been a spike in sexual activity as people emerged from the COVID-19 lock downs. Saag said people are feeling liberated.
The burden was increased by the arrival of monkeypox. State and local health departments were told by the CDC that their HIV and STD resources can be used to fight the monkeypox outbreak. Some experts say that more funding is needed for STD work.
A proposal for at least $500 million for STD clinics is being pushed by Harvey's group and others.
Reducing stigma, broadening screening and treatment services, and supporting the development and accessibility of at- home testing were all called for by the director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention. He said that he would like to see STD testing as simple and as affordable as a home pregnancy test.
That's right.
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