Georgia – The Center for Disease Control and Prevention annually launches a study surveillance on sexually transmitted diseases (STD), the past report states the increase of them since the 1980’s when the HIV/AIDS was discovered.
The CDC stated that there are 20 new million STDs cases in the U.S every year and around young people between 15 and 24 years represent the half of these rates. There is a total of 110 million people with STDs if these are not well treated can develop to serious diseases or even cause death.
The study surveillance claimed that in 2015 around 1.5 million new cases of Chlamydia were registered, increasing a 6 percent compared to the year before, 400,000 new cases of Gonorrhea, 13 percent more cases since 2014 and 24,000 cases or Syphilis, increasing 19 percent. This makes a total of nearly 2 million new cases of STDs in 2015 in the U.S. These diseases are the most common and even though they are easily cured if is not cured at the right time can trigger serious health consequences.
Comparing to five years ago from now, in 2011, the rate increase has reached 75 percent and now 1 out of 3 Americans is the carrier of an STD. The chief of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Judith A. O’Donnel, stated that the awareness of safe sex increased after the high rates of the 1980’s, but it has been reduced in this generation. O’Donnel also talked about the importance of informing about safe sex to every new generation in order to reduce the rates.
Gail Bolan, Director of the Division of STD Prevention of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said that the costs of STDs treatments represent 16 billion USD for the U.S every year.
Bolan also alleged that the major cause of the rise of STD’s is due because in 2012 the 52 percent of the state and local STD programs had cuts in their budgets and 21 local health STD clinics closed. This causes that only a few people get access to sex protection and treatment of these diseases.
Homosexual, bisexual and pregnant women are the most affected
Homosexual and bisexual people represent a huge number of the recent rates, making them the most vulnerable to acquire these diseases.
Since an individual who has sex relations with other same-sex people cannot physically reproduce, they might not see the necessity of using protection. This is due to the poor information about STDs in the new generations and the cuts of the budget of programs specialized in this matter, causing that only a few people can have access to these.
Also, pregnant women who get an STD such as Syphilis, Chlamydia or Gonorrhea can have risks during their pregnancy and develop serious injuries to the babies. Sometimes the babies also get the disease, provoking them the developmental problems, the death, and other related consequences.
Chlamydia
The bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis has intracellular parasites it causes Chlamydia which is an infection transmitted by sexual relations. This disease does not provoke symptoms but several weeks after sex.
The symptoms linked to Chlamydia in women are abdominal and pelvic pain, burning and discomfort while urinating, increased vaginal secretion and bleeding in the urine. While in men are inflammation and pain in the testicles, an increase of discharge from the penis and discomfort while urinating.
The treatment depends on the patient, its age, and infection site. It is easily treated with ofloxacin and doxycycline antibiotics and most of the times when a person is infected the doctor recommends the couple analyze too.
Gonorrhea
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the bacteria that cause Gonorrhea, it is an infection that is obtained during sex, the infection spreads either with oral, anal or vaginal sex. In half of the cases does not have a symptom. The symptoms appear on the 4th day after the sex.
The signs and symptoms of Gonorrhea in women are inflammation in the urine cervix, pain during coition and vaginal discharge. In men are inflammation of the urethra, discharge from the penis and burning discomfort while urinating. When the infection is advanced most of the people experiments feeling of tiredness
Its treatment, same as Chlamydia is with antibiotics. Doctors recommend evaluating if the couple also has the infection. The most common antibiotic used to cure it is the ceftriaxone.
Syphilis
It is caused by the Treponema pallidum bacterium; the Syphilis has four stages: primary, secondly, latent and tertiary. These stages represent the development the infection. The symptoms can appear in weeks or even months after the sexual relation.
Its symptom in the primary stage is a chancre; it is a skin bump or lesson that most of the times is not itchy or burning. During the secondary stage, some bumps appear in the palm of the hands and skin generally; the secondary stage appears after the first or second month of infection. Body fluids represent the latent stage; it shows around the year after. In the tertiary stage gummas emerge on the skin, these are balls similar to tumors with a considerable size.
The treatment of Syphilis during the early stages is with a single dose of penicillin antibiotic while in late stages the doses of penicillin are applied for around ten days. There is no vaccine for Syphilis, but in 2010 some researchers discovered the possibility to reduce the lesions
Source: Philly