Sexually transmitted diseases up in US

22 November, 2007

Cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are rising in the United States.

These include chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, the three diseases caused by sexually transmitted bacteria, says the annual report on sexually transmitted diseases released on November 13, 2007, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of newly diagnosed cases of the three most common STDs showed an increase for the second year in the US.

The number of chlamydia cases reported in the US in 2006 was 1,030,911. The figures are the highest-ever recorded for any sexually transmitted disease in any year.

Over 976,440 cases of chlamydia, which can lead to infertility in women if not treated, were reported in the US in 2005.

However, researchers from the Division of STD Prevention, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which produced the report, believe that the actual figures are probably much higher. Dr John M Douglas Jr., director of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, said, “We have reason to believe that chlamydia is dramatically underreported. Since it is underreported, it probably represents a much bigger iceberg.”

Incidence of syphilis that dropped to their lowest levels in 2000, have increased by about 12% from 2005 to 2006. Nearly 9,800 cases of the most contagious forms of syphilis were reported in 2006 – up from about 8,700 in 2005.

Syphilis is a potentially deadly disease that first manifests as genital sores.

Gonorrhea, the second most commonly reported infectious disease in the US, after reaching a record low, rose again in 2005. Of the 358,366 gonorrhea cases reported in 2006, 13.8% were antibiotic-resistant, compared to 9.4% in 2005.

Gonorrhea is caused by neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that grows in the cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes in women, and in the urethra in women and men. It is estimated to infect over 700,000 people in the United States every year.

Overall, more than 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases were reported in the United States in 2006, according to the report by the Division of STD Prevention of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.