A pedestrian walks along Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California on May 29, 2018 beneath a billoard from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) warning of a drug resistant Gonorrhea. - A billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood screams out a stark ATLANTA - The U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported STDs rose in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.After initially declining during the early months of the pandemic, the agency said, cases involving STDs resurged by the end of 2020.
Cases of gonorrhea, syphilis and congenital syphilis surpassed 2019 levels, while chlamydia declined, according to the agency’s data. RELATED: 1 in 5 Americans have sexually transmitted diseasesSpecifically, reported cases of gonorrhea and primary & secondary (P&S) syphilis were up 10% and 7%, respectively, compared to 2019.
Syphilis among newborns (i.e., congenital syphilis) also increased, with reported cases up nearly 15% from 2019, and 235% from 2016.