Perhaps too many teenagers are spacing out during safe sex education courses, since the CDC’s 2009 STD Surveillance Report indicates that 19 million new sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases occur annually, and active adolescents and young adults are at a significantly higher risk. Since physicians do not have to report cases of HPV or genital herpes, the total number of STDs is actually much higher. Since 2006, chlamydia has increased by 19 percent, and though syphilis is rising more slowly, the largest increase has been observed in men who have sex with men, who accounted for 62 percent of all cases in 2009. Interestingly, gonorrhea rates are down and in 2009, were the lowest on record. If left untreated or undetected, some STDs can lead to a multitude of health maladies including infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease in females or even brain damage and death.
The incidence rates of STDs are highest among minorities, which might be due to a lack of access to health education and medical care, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.
