After a long, Covid-related delay, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its latest Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report, and the numbers are alarming. For the 6th consecutive year, the STD rate in the United States hit an all time high.
Highlights of the CDC’s report include that chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis top the list of most commonly reported new STD infections. Taken together, infections from these three reportable diseases increased almost 30% from 2015 to 2019.
One reason why, experts say, is that during the pandemic, many testing labs lacked sufficient personnel or had to shift focus entirely to Covid-19 in an attempt to keep up during the pandemic. This may have led to under-testing for STD infections nationwide. Lack of routine access to STD testing and treatment may have contributed to higher infection rates.
At Hackensack University Medical Center we offer comprehensive STD evaluation and screening. Both our inpatient and outpatient settings have capability to diagnose and treat both common and rare STDs. While consideration of factors such as age and risk factors influence decision making for screening, patients who desire testing do not need to provide justification and will not be denied screening tests. It is crucial to diagnose and treat STDs as early as possible as some can lead to consequences such as infertility and cancer.
With April being STD Awareness Month, we hope that you will consider rallying together during this month to raise awareness about sexually transmitted infections and disease, help reduce STD-related stigma and provide actionable steps to help mitigate the increase in STDs locally and across the country.
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