The CDC has a gross but important new report. Between 2014 and 2018, chlamydia cases rose 19 percent to 1.8 million, gonorrhea cases rose 63 percent to 580,000, and primary and secondary syphilis cases rose 71 percent to 35,000. Congenital syphilis nearly tripled, to 1,300 cases.
The report also features breakdowns by region of the U.S., race and ethnicity, sex, and sexual orientation. I found some of the data on the latter especially striking: About half of syphilis cases are among men who have sex with men, and that group’s gonorrhea rates, already high in 2010, have skyrocketed over the past decade. Over at The Atlantic, Olga Khazan notes that “young people and gay and bisexual men are using condoms less, in part because pre-exposure prophylaxis medications that can prevent HIV transmission are more broadly available.”
Also, did you know that more men than women get syphilis and gonorrhea, but more women than men get chlamydia? Until today I did not.