People reported to suffer from one or more sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the US was at an all-time high in 2016.<\/p>\n
According to federal experts STI rates started skyrocketing in 2014 and have continued to take an upward trend.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers said that there were over 2 million cases of gonorrhea<\/a>, syphilis<\/a> and chlamydia<\/a> reported in 2016. Chlamydia was reported to have the highest new infection prevalence with 1.6 million cases.<\/p>\n Syphilis came in second with an increase of 18% in new infections. Most cases were reported among men who have sex with men (MSMs). Syphilis cases had also gone up among women and babies born with syphilis. The number of new infections rose by 36% and 28% in 2016 among women and babies respectively.<\/p>\n There was also an increase in gonorrhea cases among men and women in the US. This STD is of particular concern because gonorrhea is increasingly becoming resistant to treatment<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though all three STIs can be treated using antibiotics, most people don\u2019t get treated because they do not go for STD testing<\/a>. Untreated STDs can cause worse health issued such as infertility.<\/p>\n According to the CDC guidelines every woman who is sexually active and is under the age of 25 as well as any woman with STD risk factors such as multiple sexual partners should be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea annually. They should also go for yearly HIV testing.<\/p>\n MSMs are also advised to get tested at least once a year for chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea as well HIV<\/a>. men with risk factors including multiple sex partners should be tested every three or six months.<\/p>\n A few factors have been suggested for the rampant STD cases. The first reason is that use of condom during sex has gone down among the MSMs. This is because there has been high success of treating and even preventing HIV with ARTs<\/a> thus making unprotected sex less scary.<\/p>\n The second reason is \u00a0that there are new populations that are now being infected with STDs that in the past were not traditionally affected such as babies. With more women getting syphilis today, more babies are in turn being born with the infection because the mothers don\u2019t get tested and therefore, go untreated.<\/p>\n The syphilis bacteria then gets into their bloodstream and the to the babies via the placenta. Syphilis in babies is a very serious infection that can cause neonatal deaths, stillbirths or blindness.<\/p>\nRampant Lack of Testing<\/h2>\n
Causes of Increased STD Rates<\/h2>\n