Cases of syphilis, other STDs rose in US during Covid pandemic: CDC report
A woman looks at a Center for Disease Control (CDC) health advisory sign about the dangers of the Zika virus as she lines up for a security screening at Miami International Airport in Miami.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increased in the United States in 2020.
The CDC said STD cases fell during the early months of the Covid pandemic in 2020 but rose again at the end of the year. Congenital syphilis, syphilis and gonorrhea cases rose as compared to 2019 levels, it added.
CDC data showedgonorrhea-related cases rose by 10% overall in 2020, with syphilis rates increasing by 7%. The report said chlamydia declined "likely due to decreased STD screening and under-diagnosis during the pandemic".
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The US health agency informed that syphilis rates in newborns soared 235 per cent in four years with cases among newborns rising 15 per cent in 2020 as compared to the previous year with early data indicating that "primary and secondary syphilis and congenital syphilis cases continued to increase in 2021 as well."
CDC stated that Chlamydia cases accounted for the largest proportion of STDs in the United States.
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Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, said: "The COVID-19 pandemic put enormous pressure on an already strained public health infrastructure."
"There were moments in 2020 when it felt like the world was standing still, but STDs weren't. The unrelenting momentum of the STD epidemic continued even as STD prevention services were disrupted," Dr Mermin added.
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CDC listed the factors for the decline in STD cases in the initial months of 2020 attributing it largely to reduced frequency of in-person healthcare services, diversion of health officials due to COVID-19, STD test and laboratory supply shortages and lapses in health insurance due to unemployment.
The report said STD cases among gay and bisexual men including the youth continued to rise.
Leandro Mena, director of CDC's STD prevention division, said: "COVID-19 pandemic increased awareness of a reality we’ve long known about STDs."
"Social and economic factors such as poverty and health insurance status create barriers, increase health risks, and often result in worse health outcomes," the CDC official said.
(With inputs from Agencies)