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Subscribe to RSSJust in time for Valentine’s Day, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued two new studies of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) today detailing what the lead author of one calls “an ongoing, severe, STI epidemic.”
The studies reveal new infection data, some of it available for the first time, for the eight most common STIs -- chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B, HIV, and trichomoniasis. The studies, which estimate infection rates and medical costs related to STIs, were published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
Both are startling. In 2008, there were 20 million new incidents of infection in the United States, and a prevalence (new infections plus ongoing infection) of 110 million, according to CDC estimates. (Because one person may have more than one infection, the 110 million figure does not mean 110 million people have a sexually transmitted disease.) As a result, the United States incurred estimated direct medical costs of nearly $16 billion.
Previous such estimates, for years 1996 and 2000, estimated approximately 15 million and 18.9 million new incidents respectively, though these reports used somewhat different data sources and methodology so the CDC cautions against making direct comparisons. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the American Social Health Association, and the CDC, the U.S. has the highest rate of STIs in the industrialized world.
“STIs take a big health and economic toll on men and women in the United States, especially our youth,” CDC epidemiologist Catherine Lindsey Satterwhite, who led the study of incidence and prevalence, told NBC News.
Although people age 15-24 account for only 25 percent of the nation’s sexually experienced population, Satterwhite’s study estimates they account for about half of all sexually transmitted infections.
Because every STI is preventable, Satterwhite argued, “we know that preventing STIs could save the nation billions of dollars each year.”
The story could have been different, insisted Matthew Golden, the director of Public Health Seattle and King County HIV/STD Program and a professor of medicine at the University of Washington Center for AIDS and STD. The good news, he said, is that rates for most viral and bacterial infections, including HIV, have stabilized or even dropped.
The “epidemic” Satterwhite speaks of, he said, is driven almost entirely by two bugs: HPV, and chlamydia. Chlamydia, a bacterial infection, is easily curable if it’s diagnosed. And there’s a very effective vaccine for the most dangerous forms of HPV that can trigger cervical, oral, anal, and penile cancers, and cause genital warts.
But, Golden argued, “we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory” by not pursuing effective strategies, such as school-based universal access to the HPV vaccine.
Only about 35 percent of American girls age 13-17 had received the complete course of HPV vaccine as of 2011, according to the CDC. The rate among boys was about 28 percent. In comparison, Australia’s National HPV Vaccination Program provides the vaccine to girls at age 12 and 13 through their schools. As a result, 72 percent of girls have received a complete vaccine by age 15. (Boys were added to the program this year.)
Satterwhite’s study estimated 14.1 million new HPV infections during 2008 and a prevalence of 79.1 million, making it the most common STI by far. While the majority of HPV infections are cleared by the body’s immune system, some are not.
“How could we possibly have done this to ourselves?” Golden asked. “We have a solution; we have to make it happen.”
Chlamydia can go undiagnosed if it doesn’t cause symptoms and since many young people are not routinely screened, cases can go untreated. This can result in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) infertility, and ectopic pregnancies. A 2004 study from CDC epidemiologists and economists estimated that “costs per case of PID, including those associated with acute PID, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and treated infertility, range from $1,060 to $3,626.”
Meanwhile, STI prevention and awareness programs targeting other infections are also critical. For example, Satterwhite estimated 820,000 new gonorrhea infections in 2008. While the U.S. has largely escaped it so far, drug-resistant gonorrhea is slowly spreading around the world. Condoms offer protection against gonorrhea, as well as chlamydia, HPV and other STDs, something to consider before that Valentine’s Day date.
Brian Alexander (www.BrianRAlexander.com) is co-author, with Larry Young Ph.D., of "The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science of Attraction," (www.TheChemistryBetweenUs.com), now on sale.
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aaah so that explains the ever-warping minds of the cultist right wingers... I wasn't sure what the effects of long term exposure to some of these STD's were but apparently they can shrink your brain and make you rabidly hateful
The right wingers were telling you to keep your knees together.
How is that their fault?
There are good reasons why some of us stay faithful to our spouses. One of them is to avoid waking up in the morning, making it to the bathroom and experiencing the sublime high of feeling like someone is pulling a string of razor blades through one's manhood. ouch.
Somehow, we have taught our kids that to deny themselves is to give up all sense of individuality...you see it in every ad and we wonder where they get it.
Public Health Impact
Surveillance data show higher rates of reported STDs among some racial or ethnic minority groups when compared with rates among whites. Race and ethnicity in the United States are population characteristics that correlate with other fundamental determinants of health status.1,2
Social and economic conditions, such as high rates of poverty, income inequality, unemployment, and low educational attainment, can make it more difficult for individuals to protect their sexual health.3 People who struggle financially are often experiencing life circumstances that increase their risk for STDs.4 Those who cannot afford basic necessities may have trouble accessing and affording quality sexual health services.5 As an example, in 2009, the poverty rates, unemployment rates, and high school drop-out rates for blacks, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Hispanics were higher than for whites, differences commensurate with observed disparities in STD burden. 6–8 Recent data show that nearly one-fifth of blacks do not have health insurance. Many people of Hispanic ethnicity face similar challenges; and for some, there are the additional barriers arising from immigration or undocumented citizenship status.9,10 Even when health care is available, fear and distrust of health care institutions can negatively affect the health care-seeking experience for many racial/ethnic minorities when there is social discrimination, provider bias, or the perception that these may exist.11
In communities where STD prevalence is higher, individuals may have a more difficult time reducing their risk for infection. With each sexual encounter, they face a greater chance of encountering an infected partner than those in lower prevalence settings. 12 Acknowledging the inequity in STD rates by race or ethnicity is one of the first steps in empowering affected communities to organize and focus on this problem.
In 2010, the overall rate among blacks in the United States was 1,167.5 cases per 100,000, a 4.0% increase from the 2009 rate of 1,122.2 cases per 100,000. The rate of chlamydia among black women was over seven times the rate among white women (1,536.5 and 205.1 per 100,000 women, respectively) (Figure O). The chlamydia rate among black men was almost 11 times the rate among white men (761.8 and 69.9 cases per 100,000 men, respectively).
Chlamydia rates were highest for blacks aged 15–19 and 20–24 years in 2010 (Table 11B). The chlamydia rate among black females aged 15–19 years was 7,719.1 cases per 100,000 women, which was 6.6 times the rate among white females in the same age group (1,172.1). The rate among black women aged 20–24 years was over five times the rate among white women in the same age group (Table 11B).
In 2010, 69% of all reported cases of gonorrhea occurred among blacks. The rate of gonorrhea among blacks in 2010 was 432.5 cases per 100,000 population (Figure 22), which was 18.7 times the rate among whites (23.1). This disparity has changed little in recent years (Figure P). This disparity was larger for black men (22.2 times) than for black women (16.2 times) (Figure Q).
Black men aged 15–19 years had a gonorrhea rate of 1,024.7 cases per 100,000 men, which was 37.4 times the rate among white men in the same age group (27.4). Black men aged 20–24 years had a gonorrhea rate of 1,768.8 cases per 100,000 men, which was 22.6 times the rate among white men in the same age group (78.2) (Table 22B).
one more reason not to move to the usa.
Welcomes to the new ear of the liberal’s irresponsibility, free love (sex) with no
afterthought of the consequences, don’t you worry your government will take care
of you...
What a surprise! The brakes are off on every kind of sexual appetite at the same time that we've all agreed to pretend there is no such thing as personal responsibility. Hate to say we told you so, but we did. Enjoy your antibiotic cocktails, you unrepressed, uninhibited, unhealthy party animals!
Wow
Good thing your god teaches you to judge others. He will never let you get sick, which would also require you to take antibiotics. And that would technically mean that at the time you would be unhealthy. No, god does not allow things to happen to his followers. Never. We?
Those with STDs should be barred from receiving funds from Medicare, Medicaid, etc. , except in cases where rape, medical malpractice, etc. can be demonstrated.
We also need to be more discriminate on who we let into colleges. Obviously, not all college students deserve to be in college, or STDs wouldn't be such a problem.
If you are too stupid to think to practice abstinence or at least put on a condom or two, you don't belong in college and shouldn't be receiving funds through grants, loans, scholarships, etc.
wearing two condoms causes condom failure...friction between the latex layers. that's actually a big issue with people trying to use two when one is actually far more reliable than 2.
Abf
Where is the fairness? We should ban kids from college because they engage in premarital sex? Come over to the big boy blogs tomorrow, stop hiding in these low comment arenas. Let the world tell you how stupid and introverted you really are. Funny the name of the bird you have as an avatar begins with the word "swallow."
"We should ban kids from college because they engage in premarital sex?"
No, I'm saying the fact that there are so many college students who fail to practice abstinence or safe sex shows that too many college students don't have enough impulse control and maturity to be in college, which means we should be working harder to screen out those who lack self control, delayed gratification, etc., regardless of whether they have premarital sex. Premarital sex is just a red flag.
"Come over to the big boy blogs tomorrow, stop hiding in these low comment arenas. Let the world tell you how stupid and introverted you really are."
OOOOHHHHH THE BIG BOY BLOG! OOOOOH APPEAL TO SOCIAL ALIENATION Got Em! Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't derive my self esteem and self image from the size of whatever blog I'm on. So you have fun taking pride in how cool and prestigious your "Big Boy blogs" are, and I'll just stick to commenting on stories based on whether or not I have something to say.
"Funny the name of the bird you have as an avatar begins with the word "swallow.""
What's funny about it? Oh I get it, you must be one of those people who prefer to split hairs over perceived, seventh-grade level sexual innuendos. Is that what people do on your "big boy blogs"? Well I don't know about you, but I prefer to stick to reasoned argument and debate.
Good Lord!
@ABF-- Not everyone thinks sex is dirty, or that people that have sex should be punished. My kids were educated, by the school and also by me, to take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
"Not everyone thinks sex is dirty, or that people that have sex should be punished."
And what does that have to do with whether or not you practice safe sex or abstinence?
Reasoned argument and debate?
You stated, "We must DISCRIMINATE who we let into colleges." It is in your text, friend. Again, who is "we?" Do you live in a world where discrimination regarding further education is acceptable? You will not answer me as to who you answer to because you are afraid to say it. I have a hard time "debating" a point with someone that is FOR discrimination in any way shape or form. Who are you taking your orders from?
We discriminate against students all the time. We discriminate against them based on grades, GPA, standardized test scores, criminal history, ect. on a regular basis. So yes, I believe I do live in a world where discrimination in higher education is acceptable.
Abf
Who is "we?"
The generic and collective "we" referring to the members of society who make up the body politic, elect officials and school board members who in turn decide monetary and educational policy, and who decide which educational foundations to support, start educational movements and demonstrations, etc. Don't tell me you've never heard "we" used in that sense before.
Abf
The reason I ask is because I do not see too many people agreeing with what you are saying. Maybe start speaking for yourself, "we" don't appreciate it.
That's why I framed my comment in terms of how things ought to be rather than how they are. So what difference does it make if I use first person plural or first person singular?
I always love the absolutists.
So Cory -
Would you attend a picnic that was sponsored by and benfitted the KKK? Why not?
Would you date someone with AIDS? Why not?
Would you attend a republican party event tht benefitted Make-aWish? Why not?
If you answered "NO" to any of these questions, you discriminate. We all do.
Grow up and learn to think for yourself.
mpa
If my way of thinking is different than yours, and different from most, doesn't that mean I am an independent thinker? I am reasonably sure I typed that myself. If you don't agree with what I said that is fine. But "grow up?" Really? See, you are doing the same thing. I speak of my own and for myself. But you and abf repeatedly use "we." I use "I," because I am speaking for myself. (except for 1 previous post, sarcasm related). But way to jump in 12 hours later, (probably took you that long to figure out how to spell "benfitted"). Peace.
90% of them are true blue Obama voters.
um, look to mississippi. deep red state, highest STD prevalence in the nation.
Yeah..........New Orleans has a high conservative ratio.........right.
Wrap that rascal!
My son knew of a 20 something girl who knew she had a STD but never told her partners.
Yeah, so? And the moral of the story is..........................
Girls, you do not have to worry about dating my son or even having sex with him. Why? He has decided to be a Catholic Monk.
And as far as me, then I have not met anyone worth having sex with or without a condom. And while we are on the subject about love. I really hope all you have a great Valentine's Day tomorrow. Be sure to bring your mate a bouquet of condoms. Get them in colors and you can blow up the pretty ones and leave a few for yourself.
Does that mean he is going to do only little boys like the rest of them? Sounds like dad might be in the closet too.
Mike,
Shame on you! That's just wrong! God damn funny, but still wrong! Apologize to that poor parent for traumatizing them.
Uh, ben, did the mother of your boy sit on a toilet seat and get pregnant or was it immaculate conception?
So that old time religion is going to save you? People of Mississippi have the highest rate of people attending church of any state. They also have the highest rate of STD in the country. Sweat will give you herpes? Are you the same one who said you could get it off a toilet seat? Use a condom. They work.
Yeah..........New Orleans is a hot bed of Christian Conservativism.
O - that's the second time you've suggested that New Orleans is in Mississippi. Perhaps you should consult a map so you can get your facts straight? Even if it was in Miss., one city does not make a state - even here in New York.
How's that promiscuity workin' out for ya?
It was pretty awesome until I settled down and got married.
Screwed yourself there, huh Bob. I bet you are pretty "handy" :)
Why are Liberals so Closed Minded.
Beleive in responsiblity means you are ashamed of sex
in there pea sized brain.
LoL thats almost on the right note, but here's something else to consider.
About 75% of them are to Obese to have sex so therefore, they don't like it. and for good reason. ever seen a male that wasn't drunk beyond sight want to screw a honey with one butt in the front let alone two? Probably not.
Ever seen a honey and I mean ever want to get busy with a walrus? I doubt that either.
So of course they wouldn't want anyone to have what they couldn't have, thats the socialist way you know. Makes perfect sense...
being over populated with third worlders what do you expect
That was uncalled for and very crass.
Kinda surprised I haven't seen one comment on the fact that the human animal is biologically programmed to desire sex with many partners.......
know any young (and most old) men who aren't completely focused on getting laid ? Not suggesting it's not a problem but IT WILL NOT CHANGE. EVER.
So just turn your brain off, screw as many people as possible and make the government pay for your condoms.....
"know any young (and most old) men who aren't completely focused on getting laid ?"
If you find that idea unusual, then you should probably reevaluate who you hang out with.
This is not good news for Sandra Fluke.
when sex is used as a commercial and entertainment tool what else you expect
Try putt'n it where the pink is instead of where the stink is and these infections would most likely decrease by about 80%.
Also, front to back ladies, front to back.
The diseases have been around for centuries, most of us know about them. Some of us make good choices and some of us don't.
But the infections, now those are a different ballgame because they come from bacteria and bacteria, well theres a couple of places to find that 100% of the time.
The brown crusty area and the finger nails.
So once again try keeping fingers and twinkers out of the butthole. Nothing that smells good or looks good will ever come out of there and closing your eyes won't change that stinky so stick to the pinky.
It'll save your life by the way and it'll save us from worrying about someone that's been tainted.
Oh and,,,, Thanks...
Chlymidia, and trich are vaginal infections. They produce a discharge. they are transmitted sexually. Men are infected but have no symptoms. Syphills and gonnrhea are transmitted sexually. Women commonly have few symptoms sometimes none. Men however DO have symptoms. You dont have to put it where it stinks to get these infections as well as herpes and HPV and HIV or HEP B. Putting it where it stinks WILL give you a yeast infection which you will want to clear up immediatly because it will itch you to no end.
Abstinence can also prevent the spread of these diseases.
Wow this comes as a major shock being that we are in a 2nd sexual revolution. Libs push for more more sexual freedoms and offer free birth control, etc while not taking into account that people are morons and still refuse to use the protection. Hey guys great job!
This was news 10 years ago.. the newer research is the number of mouth cancer and throat cancer cases young females have developed.. you know why..
No big mystery here. Back in the 80's and 90's everyone was terrified of AIDS and used condoms more or fooled around less. Now that it is not in the news constantly and people like Magic Johnson are living for decades with HIV people are going at it like it is the 60's and 70's again. They all think they can't get anything and if they do a shot or a pill can fix it. It is just human nature, until the next "plague" people think they can do anything and get away with it.
Hiv is everywhere. It's so bad they won't talk about it for fear of a panic.
MagicJ got his disease from a blood transfusion. Then he went out of the country for his treatment and probably spent more on doing that than most people will make in their entire lives, so he really can't be used as an example. By no means am I in disagreement with you. The children really are ignorant to many things these days and the direct blame there is lack of parenting. So blame their parents. My kids have all turned out to be moral, respectible and without disease or infections. Some would call that lucky since they're girls. I call it good and thorough parenting.
with condoms available otc and std medications available at any drug store, they are all big failures. religious groups and morally sane people said that the only sure solution in preventing std is unadulterated - straight "abstinence". but the government and liberals say "stick it in" because we have condoms to protect you and medications to cure you. for the fools who listened to the liberals and the government, too bad. suffer for you listened to the wrong and foolish advice.
There is another ariticle on this site at this moment dealing with the highest-ever use of "emergency contraceptives."
We have entered the liberal utopia. We are right where the government wants us.