US health officials are calling for new prevention and treatment efforts after seeing a 26% increase in new syphilis infections last year.
In a speech on Monday at a medical conference on sexually transmitted diseases, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it was imperative to rebuild, innovate, and expand prevention.
Some large US cities seem to be seeing a decline in monkeypox cases.
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 underscored 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.
A core part of any effort must be increased use of condoms.
It's pretty straightforward. 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. When antibiotics became widely available in the US in the 1940s, there was a decline in the number of new STDs. In 1998 there were less than 7,000 new cases nationwide. The plan to eliminate syphilis in the US was launched by the CDC.
Gay and bisexual men started to see cases rise again 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, which is more than the previous year.
The rate of cases has gone up in the last year. That is the highest it has been in the last 30 years.
Black and Latino men have higher rates of having sex with men. The rate for women is lower than it is for men, but it has been rising more rapidly.
The rise in congenital syphilis, in which mothers pass the disease on to their babies, potentially leading to death of the child, is related to that. 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.
As people emerged from Covid-19 lock downs, there may have been a spike in sexual activity. 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 $500m for STD clinics is being pushed by Harvey's group and others.
The director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention called for decreasing stigma, broadening screening and treatment services, and supporting the development and accessibility of at- home testing.
He said that he would like to see STD testing as simple and as affordable as a home pregnancy test.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
