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The number of cases of sexually transmitted infections (STI)
reported in the US in 2015 is at an all-time high, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s
because budget cuts to state and local STI programs have left
fewer people with access to testing and treatment, the agency
says.

"We’re very concerned about these unprecedented high number of
cases of STIs in the United States," Gail Bolan, the director of
the CDC's Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention,
tells The Verge. "These new number are making it really clear
that many Americans are not getting the preventive services they
need."

In 2015, there were more than 1.5 million reported cases of
chlamydia (up nearly 6 percent since 2014), about 400,000 cases
of gonorrhea (up nearly 13 percent), and about 24,000 cases of
primary and secondary syphilis (up 19 percent), according to a
report released today by the CDC. These three diseases are also
the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infections (also
known as sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs) in the US.

Chlamydia is an infectious disease that affects both men and
women, but is particularly dangerous for women. If left
untreated, it can make it difficult or impossible for women to
get pregnant later on. Gonorrhea can lead to lasting health
problems like infertility, long-term abdominal pain in women,
and even death if the infection spreads to a person’s blood or
joints. And syphilis can create skin rashes and sores, and can
damage the brain, nerves, and heart if left untreated. (Syphilis
is divided into four stages: primary, secondary, latent, and
late.)

All three STDs can be cured with antibiotics, but drug-resistant
versions of the disease are much more dangerous and harder to
treat. In July, the CDC announced that gonorrhea may soon become
resistant to the only two antibiotics left to treat it. "We’re
very concerned about the threat of untreatable gonorrhea," Bolan
says. Chlamydia and syphilis are also increasingly becoming
resistant to antibiotics, according to the World Health
Organization.

The uptick in the number of cases is caused by reduced access to
STD testing and treatment, the CDC says. More than half of state
and local STD programs have experienced budget cuts, the agency
says, and more than 20 health department STD clinics closed in
one year alone. Sexually transmitted infections cost the US
health care system nearly $16 billion each year, according to
the CDC.

"We have reached a decisive moment for the nation," Jonathan
Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral
Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in a statement. "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."

Young people, as well as gay and bisexual men, are most at risk
of contracting an STD. In 2015, about two-thirds of chlamydia
diagnoses and half of gonorrhea diagnoses were among Americans
ages 15 to 24 years old. Men who have sex with men accounted for
the majority of new gonorrhea and primary and secondary syphilis
cases. But women’s rate of syphilis diagnosis also increased by
more than 27 percent during that period. That’s concerning
because pregnant women who have syphilis can pass the infection
onto babies, causing the baby to be born dead or have
developmental problems.

The only way to respond to the increasing number of STD cases is
to expand access to screening and treatment, according to the
CDC. "STD prevention resources across the nation are stretched
thin, and we’re beginning to see people slip through the public
health safety net," said Mermin. "Turning the STD epidemics
around requires bolstering prevention efforts and addressing new
challenges — but the payoff is substantial in terms of improving
health, reducing disparities and saving billions of dollars."

Update October 19th 04:41PM ET: The story has been updated to
include comments from Gail Bolan, the director of the CDC's
Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention.

SOURCE: CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats15/default.htm

http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13331854/sexually-transmitted- infections-chlamydia-gonorrhea-syphilis-increasing
 

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