Overview

According to the CDC, STDs are on the rise in young adults: Reported cases of three nationally notifiable STDs – chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis – have increased for the first time since 2006, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the 2014 STD Surveillance Report.

The approximately 1.4 million reported cases of chlamydia, a rate of 456.1 cases per 100,000 population, is up 2.8 percent since 2013. Rates of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis – the most infectious stages of syphilis -and gonorrhea have both increased since 2013, by 15.1 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively. In 2014, there were 350,062 reported cases of gonorrhea (a rate of 110.7 per 100,000) and 19,999 reported cases of P&S syphilis (for a rate of 6.3 per 100,000).

Instructions

Please discuss your thoughts on whether enough is being done to control the spread of STDs among young Americans. What, if anything, could be improved or handled differently?