Sexually Transmitted Disease is at its ‘Highest Level’

On Wednesday, Federal authorities said that Sexually Transmitted Disease increased drastically compared to the previous years. they also said both federal and local health offices funds were not enough to cure the epidemic.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.5 million cases of Chlamydia {the most common Sexually Transmitted Disease}. Furthermore, roughly 400,000 cases of Gonorrhea and almost 24,000 cases of Syphilis were turned up.

“The STD epidemic is getting worse in the United States and, in fact, is at its highest levels yet,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

Based on the CDC report, 2014 is a record year for STD and it is getting worst.
“Last year was the first year that we saw increases but those increases are actually continuing and at a higher rate,” Mermin said.

The new numbers translate to a 19 percent increase in Syphilis cases, a 13 percent rise in Gonorrhea and a 6 percent increase in Chlamydia, Mermin said.

While some of the new numbers may be due to better reporting of cases, most of the rise appears to be a real increase in new infections, he added.

Records shows, Gay and bisexual men got the highest number of new STD cases. The highest proportion was from young adults between late teens and early 20s.

“Half of all STDs occur in youth under age 20,” Mermin said.

CDC officials said, “Part of the increase may be due to better treatment for HIV, which may make people believe — usually wrongly — they do not need to use condoms.”
Also, CDC identified budget cuts to federal and local health clinics as a major factor in the high rates of STDs.

“That is correlated with an eroding infrastructure for sexually transmitted disease clinics,” Mermin said. “In 2012 alone, half of state public health programs had to close some of those clinics.”

“That means young people most vulnerable to new infection have fewer places to go for help, advice, testing, and treatment”, he said.

All these three epidemic diseases can be treated thru antibiotics. However, people who were infected showed no symptoms in early stage and didn’t even realize they were infected.

Sex Education for the Youth

Mermin strongly stressed in a statement. “Parents and providers and teachers can provide young people with safe and effective ways to prevent STDs,” he said. “Good sex education prevents STDs.”

“There is no evidence that talking about sexually transmitted disease prevention increases sexual activity,” he said.

Babies at risk

According to CDC statistics, some pregnant women give birth to babies infected with Syphilis. Mermin said there’s no excuse.

“Clinicians can make STD screening a standard part of clinical care,” he added, “the way to prevent infants from dying of syphilis is to help women get diagnosed and treated when they are pregnant.”

Congenital syphilis cases hit a record high in 2015 while more than 430 babies were born with syphilis. In addition, up to 40 percent of babies born to women with untreated syphilis may be stillborn or die from the infection as a newborn,” the CDC said.

While some women get no prenatal care at all — about 22 percent of women whose babies were born infected had no prenatal care in 2014 — others may be tested early in pregnancy. He cautioned though that this may not be done later on, he said.

CDC reports show that 43 percent of pregnant women with syphilis who did see a doctor or other health professional while pregnant nonetheless got no cure for the infection.
All pregnant women should be tested again in the third trimester of pregnancy, he said.

Dating apps a tool for prevention

Some reports have linked dating and hook-up apps with an increase in STDs in some communities. Nevertheless, Mermin said there is no hard evidence to show cause and effect. And he said such apps can be tools for good.

“The dating apps can also be vectors of prevention by increasing the amount of prevention information that people can see and also by linking people to STD and HIV testing,” he said.

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