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   From: brownstew@gladd.org   
      
   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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