Are STDs increasing or decreasing in the United States?
It depends on the disease. The latest scientific data suggest that chlamydia has declined in areas with screening and treatment programs, but remains at very high levels. For the first time in nearly two decades, gonorrhea is on the rise, increasing more than nine percent from 1997 to 1999, after a 72 percent decline from 1975 to 1997. An increase in drug-resistant gonorrhea has been seen in Hawaii and in small clusters in other states. Syphilis, in both adults and infants, has declined overall and is now at an all time low, presenting an opportunity for elimination of the disease. In October 1999, CDC launched the National Plan to Eliminate Syphilis in the United States. Chancroid also has declined steadily since 1987 (DSTDP, CDC, 2000). Genital herpes continues to increase, spreading across all social, economic, racial and ethnic boundaries, but most dramatically affecting teens and young adults (Fleming, 1997). With an estimated 20 million people in the United States currently infec
