By Julie Cullen, Managing Editor, American Nurse Today
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sexually transmitted infections (SDIs) are on the rise. Here are some numbers (and other info) you should be aware of:
- In 2017, new cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis reached a record high of almost 2.3 million (cases have been going up for 4 years in a row).
- 7 million cases of chlamydia were diagnosed in 2017 (a 22% increase from 2013).
- Almost half of the chlamydia cases were among women age 15 to 24 years.
- Chlamydia and gonorrhea often have no symptoms, but they’re still damaging the reproductive systems of those who are infected.
- The CDC recommends that all women who are younger than 25 years should be screened every year for both chlamydia and gonorrhea.
- The rate of syphilis rose an alarming 76% from 2013 to 2017.
- Because the rates of syphilis declined so dramatically after the discovery of penicillin treatment in the 1940s, many providers don’t recognize the infection.
- Experts speculate that the reasons behind the increase in SDIs may include failing public health services and the opioid epidemic.
Source: nyti.ms/2wuTcAJ
Julie Cullen, managing editor of American Nurse Today and a curator of online content for the American Nurse Today website, is most definitely not a nurse, but she admires what all of you do everyday. In her Off the Charts blog she shares some of her experiences as a patient and family member of patients, thoughts and ideas that occur to her during her work editing nursing content, and information she thinks you might find interesting. Julie welcomes your feedback. You can submit a comment on the website or email her at jcullen@healthcommedia.com.
