The US Is Facing an 'Out of Control' STI Epidemic, Experts Warn

According to CDC data, syphilis cases of all stages have increased by 80 percent in the past five years.

While most think of adults contracting STIs, syphilis threatens the lives of babies, too. When a child contracts syphilis from the mother during pregnancy or birth, it is known as congenital syphilis.

In 2022, more than 3,700 of these cases were officially reported in the US. That's a 937 percent increase in a single decade.

"We have long known that these infections are common, but we have not faced such severe effects of syphilis in decades. Recent public health emergencies diverted program resources and threatened the health of those already disproportionately affected by STIs. We must move now to pick up the pieces."

The US Is Facing an 'Out of Control' STI Epidemic, Experts Warn

We are near approaching the 10 year anniversary of Obergefell vs. Hodges, and we've seen an explosion in the number of Syphilis cases in the US since then. It is the highest numbers we've seen in decades and now it borders on an "Out of Control Epidemic." This seems like an obvious connect the dots moment in our country where we could face the facts and understand we made a mistake with the health organizations sounding the alarm about an STI epidemic, but I am not optimistic.

 

Read the key facts.

Syphilis

 

Read the key facts.

Syphilis

 

It is bigger than Obergefell vs. Hodges, but that is part of it. It really is an indictment on everything going back to the 60's. If men keep it in their pants until they are monogamously married and women close their legs until they are monogamously married, then STDs are very rarely a problem. Teach and raise our children that this is the right way to live, and the epidemic would be gone.

 

Or maybe we could choose to be wise people who do the right thing without the government forcing us to do the right thing. I would be willing to bet Tebow and Wuerffel don't have STIs. Jameis Winston might have one, though. And we all know that comes down to choices.

 

This is from Johns Hopkins:

Why is syphilis on the rise in the U.S. now?

The syphilis rates in the U.S. started going up in 2000 and have not stopped.

Initially, this increase was mainly among men who have sex with men. Today, we have parallel epidemics in two sexual networks: one in MSM, and one among heterosexuals, which has been linked to drug use. The rise of syphilis cases among women is now surpassing the rise among men.

It’s harder to break down by region. We have good data from cities but very poor data from rural areas, where there’s less access to health care and more missed diagnoses. But there have been multiple outbreaks reported in rural areas.
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Why is Syphilis Spiking in the U.S.? | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

 

Another article:

“Two major public health issues are colliding,” said Dr. Sarah Kidd, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lead author of a new report issued Thursday on the link between drugs and syphilis.

The report shows a large intersection between drug use and syphilis among women and heterosexual men. In those groups, reported use of methamphetamine, heroin and other injection drugs more than doubled from 2013 to 2017.

The data did not reveal the same increases in drug use among gay men with syphilis, the group with the highest rates of the disease.

Researchers said the results suggest that drug use — and the risky sexual behaviors associated with it — may be driving some of the increase in syphilis transmission among heterosexuals.
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Two Crises In One: As Drug Use Rises, So Does Syphilis - California Healthline