Sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases in the U.S. will continue to grow at a high rate in 2021 and “show no signs of slowing,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said when it released new data this month.
In 2021, the annual increase in syphilis cases is the highest since former President Harry Truman took office decades ago, said Politico, which first reported preliminary data on STDs. Truman left office on January 20, 1953.
From 2020 to 2021, the total number of syphilis cases in the U.S. each year increased by nearly 28% — with just over 171,000 confirmed infections.
Compared with 2020, chlamydia infections increased by 3.1% to more than 1.6 million cases in 2021, and gonorrhea infections increased by 2.8% to nearly 700,000 cases.
Frederick J. Brown
The U.S. detected 2.5 million cases of the three STDs last year, 4.4 percent more than the number of cases identified by public health officials in 2020.
The U.S. most recently saw a record low in gonorrhea cases in 2009, and a record low in syphilis in 2000 and 2001, according to the CDC.
Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Venereal Disease, and Tuberculosis Prevention, said in a statement in April that the COVID-19 pandemic “has brought a strain on an already strained public health infrastructure. huge stress”.
He added: “At some point in 2020, it feels like the world is standing still, but STDs are not. Even with the disruption of STD prevention services, the relentless momentum of the STD epidemic continues.”
A spokesman for the CDC told Weekly newspaper On Thursday, the pandemic “raised awareness about our longstanding understanding of sexually transmitted infections — long-standing and deep-rooted social and economic factors that must be addressed so that everyone can achieve optimal health.”
“Social and economic conditions make it harder for certain groups of people to stay healthy. For example: poverty, stigma, lack of health insurance or providers, housing instability and a higher burden of sexually transmitted infections in some communities,” the spokesperson continued.
The CDC spokesperson added that preliminary data show that “some racial and ethnic minority groups, gay and bisexual men, and our nation’s youth continue to be disproportionately affected by higher rates of sexually transmitted infections — — It shows a failure to deliver quality sexual health care to everyone. Who needs it.”
“Reversing the STI epidemic will require increased accountability to the CDC and partners beyond the health sector to control STIs; reimagining how we deliver STI services to people to better meet their needs; and bringing innovative solutions to STI testing, treatment, and solutions and prevention into the 21st century,” the spokesperson added.
The CDC found in 2017 that chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis infections have all increased since 2016.
The California Department of Health noted in 2018 that the number of stillbirths in the state caused by syphilis had soared to the highest level in more than two decades.
The California Department of Public Health said 300,000 cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and early syphilis were identified in 2017, a 45 percent increase from the previous five years.
“STIs can be prevented with continued condom use, and many STIs can be cured with antibiotics,” Dr. Karen Smith, director of the department, said at the time. “Regular testing and treatment are very important for people who are sexually active, even for those who are asymptomatic. Most people who contract an STI don’t know it.”