An estimated one in five Americans has a sexually transmitted infection (STI), a new report finds.
Data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that on any given day there were nearly 68 million STIs (prevalent) and 26 million newly acquired (incidental) STIs in 2018.
In addition, nearly 50 percent of all incident STDs were diagnosed in people between the ages of 15 and 24.
The report also found that STDs acquired that year cost the U.S. healthcare system alone nearly $ 16 billion in direct medical costs.
The CDC says its new estimates are critical to “ a better understanding of the extent of STIs in the U.S. ” and that more measures are needed to
New figures from the CDC estimate there were 67.6 million sexually transmitted infections (STDs) on any given day in the U.S. in 2018
Almost half, 45.4%, of all newly acquired infections – out of a total of 11.9 million – were among people between the ages of 18 and 24 (above)
An STI, also called a sexually transmitted infection (STD), is an infection that is passed from one person to another through vaginal, oral, or anal sexual contact.
Some are bacterial infections that can be cured with a single dose of antibiotics, while others are viral infections that cannot be cured, but can be modulated with antivirals.
STDs don’t always have symptoms and, if left diagnosed and untreated, can have serious health consequences.
Some infections can increase the risk of HIV or cause chronic pelvic pain, pelvic inflammatory disease, and even infertility.
Currently, STIs cause about 2.7 deaths per 100,000 people, mainly due to HIV and HPV (human papillomavirus) infections.
For the report, published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases, the CDC focused on eight STDs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, syphilis, genital herpes, HPV, sexually transmitted hepatitis B, and sexually transmitted HIV.
The number of common and incidental infections was calculated by multiplying the estimate of each STD per capita by the estimate of the entire population.
The results showed an estimated 67.6 million STDs on any given day.
With a population of about 320 million people, the authors say this suggests that about 20 percent of Americans had an STI at some point in 2018.
Researchers also found that there were about 26.2 million STDs in the US in 2018.
The four most common infections were chlamydia, trichomoniasis, genital herpes and HPV, accounting for 97.6 percent of all STDs on any given day and 93.1 percent of all newly acquired STIs.
Of those new infections in 2018, about half, or 45.4 percent, were contracted by Americans between the ages of 15 and 24.
“The burden of STDs is staggering,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV / AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said in a statement.
‘At a time when STIs have reached record levels, they have fallen out of the national conversation. Still, STDs are a preventable and treatable national health threat with significant personal and economic consequences.
The new infections are likely to cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $ 16 billion in lifelong medical costs, most of which are related to HIV treatment (above)
In addition, those new infections are likely to cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $ 16 billion in medical costs.
Most of the cost, $ 13.7 billion, is attributed to sexually acquired HIV infections due to the lifetime of antiviral treatment.
The second most expensive STD was HPV with about $ 755 million in treatment for not only the infection, but HPV-related cancers.
According to the CDC, young people ages 15 to 24 are responsible for about 60% of the combined health care costs for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.
Women make up nearly 75% of the $ 2.2 billion in non-HIV-related medical costs for STIs, the agency said.
“There are significant human and financial costs associated with these infections, and we know from other studies that cuts to STD prevention lead to higher costs down the road,” said Raul Romaguera, acting director of CDC’s STD Prevention division. statement.
“Preventing STIs can save billions in medical costs, but more importantly, prevention would improve the health and lives of millions of people.”