There are more sexually transmitted infections than ever before. As they spread, more people are at risk. More people are getting gonorrhea than chlamydia since 2000. The rate of gonorrhea went up by 50% during the same time period. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people getting syphilis is now higher than it was in the 1950s.
But numbers are higher in some parts of the U.S. than in others.
Stacker used information from the CDC to find out which South Carolina areas had the highest rates of STDs. The rate of chlamydia cases, which is the most common STI in the country, is used to rank the counties. The rates of gonorrhea and syphilis are then used to break any ties. There are no stories about HIV or herpes in this one because it is about bacterial diseases that can be cured. The most current data from the CDC for counties is from 2021, but data for the state and country from 2022 are also included. This story is mostly about sexual transfers, and it doesn’t talk about cases of congenital syphilis that were passed down from the mother.
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For people who have had more than one sexual partner, condoms are the best way to stop the spread of STIs. However, study has shown that the number of straight, bisexual, and gay men who use condoms is going down.
Public health campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s that encouraged people to use condoms helped stop the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus. But condoms aren’t the only tool we have these days. As much as 99% less likely to get HIV from sex when you take pills like PrEP.
The most current data from the CDC, which covers the years 2011–2015, shows that less than half of single men used a condom the last time they had sex.
The number of high school kids who use condoms has dropped from 60% in 2011 to 52% in 2021. One-third of sexually active students used birth control pills, but only 10% used both condoms and birth control. The pill and IUDs can help keep you from getting pregnant, but they can’t stop the spread of STIs.
Even though chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are bacterial infections and can be cured with medicines, they can still have long-lasting effects on health, such as pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. These risks get worse if you don’t treat the infection, which is what many STIs do because they don’t show up right away.
The CDC says that transgender guys, cisgender women, and gender-nonconforming people with cervixes should get tested every year. It also says that guys who have sexual partners who are men should get tested every year. Every three to six months, people in these groups who have sex with unknown partners a lot should get checked. As per the rules, anyone with symptoms should always get checked.
The CDC says there isn’t much proof that screening straight men stops the disease from spreading, and the agency’s small budget goes to programs that help people who are most likely to get it. Some public health groups, on the other hand, want everyone, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, to get tested.
According to the National Survey of Family Growth, men have more sexual partners of the opposite gender than women. Some people say that STIs could be stopped by catching them across a sexual network instead of just among the most vulnerable individuals.
Soon, a pill might also help stop the spread of STIs. DoxyPEP can be taken 24 to 72 hours after having sex without protection. It stops an STI before it can be passed on and causes symptoms. The CDC has shared proposed rules that say men who have sex with other men and transgender women should do it. The drug was first allowed to treat people who breathed in anthrax, but doctors can prescribe it for other purposes as well.