The combined number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis hit a record high in 2015, even as the number of state and local programs for treating sexually transmitted diseases decreases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today.
“We have reached a decisive moment for the nation,” said Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, in a news release. “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.”
According to the agency’s annual report titled Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2015 there were more than 1.5 million reported cases of chlamydia last year. That represented a rate of 479 cases per 100,000 people, an increase of 5.9% since 2014. The number of gonorrhea cases approached 400,000, or 124 per 100,000, an increase of 12.8%.
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