US sexually transmitted disease hit another high

NEW YORK – Health officials are reporting another record increase in infections from three sexually transmitted diseases.

More than 2 million new cases of chlamydia (kluh-MID’-ee-uh), gonorrhea (gah-nuh-REE’-uh) and syphilis were reported in the United States last year — the most ever.

The diseases are treatable with antibiotics.

Rates for all three have been rising for several years. Health officials have said better testing and diagnosis have helped increased detection of cases, but also that treatment and prevention programs have been hurt by budget cuts.

Chlamydia is the most common, with nearly 1.6 million cases reported last year. About 470,000 gonorrhea cases were reported, and 28,000 cases of the most contagious forms of syphilis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Tuesday.

___

Online:

CDC report: https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats16/default.htm