WITH YOUR SEXUAL HEALTH

BY JAMES HOLDEN

The freedom of reaching out and being able to find a willing partner to enjoy a passionate evening without commitment may at first seem appealing, but at what cost does one risk when bed-hopping?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) had decreased at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; however, they found a significant resurgence at the close of the year.

The health organization reported, “Cases of gonorrhea, syphilis and congenital syphilis surpassed 2019 levels, while chlamydia declined…gonorrhea and primary & secondary (P&S) syphilis were up 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively, compared to 2019.”

Also discovered was syphilis in newborns increased; congenital syphilis cases went up from about 15 percent in 2019 to an explosive 235 percent from 2016 levels. The report went on to conclude syphilis infections continued to rise in 2021 too.

As for chlamydia, which accounts for the most STD cases reported, there was a decrease during the monitoring period; the CDC attributes this reduction to the decline of screening and undiagnosed cases during the pandemic.

It’s surmised that this depression of statistics is responsible for the marked decrease in STD reporting in 2020, “a drop from 2.5 million reported cases in 2019 to 2.4 million in 2020.”

According to Jonathan Mermin, M.D., M.P.H., Director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, “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.”

THE CDC BELIEVES THERE ARE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE DECLINE:

n Reduced frequency of in-person healthcare services as routine visits decreased, resulting in less-frequent STD screening n Diversion of public health staff from STD work to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic n STD test and laboratory supply shortages n Lapses in health insurance coverage due to unemployment; and telemedicine practices that led to some infections not being captured in national data

It is believed that STDs are increasing within many demographics; with racial and ethnic minority groups, bisexual men, and the nation’s youth, contracting the highest levels of STD infections.

While researchers focus on collecting data, they consider the lack of reporting as one of the reasons the numbers are not as accurate as they could be; Leandro Mena, M.D., M.P.H., Director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention says, “The 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 for some people. It appears that under and unreported cases lead to other significant health problems.”

It is vital to understand the issue of increases in transmission by those unaware of being a carrier.

Interestingly, the report didn’t address matters of public health related to incidence within the groups they identified as being at higher risk and using dating apps or changes in mating practices. More casual and less committed forms of relationships would seem to be significant contributors to outbreaks or at least rises in reported cases. It should be clear that it isn’t the dating apps directly responsible, rather, seamless access to a larger audience of potential partners leading to increases in sexual activity, may lay some responsibility for spiking the transmission of STDs.

More significant efforts are necessary to educate, prevent, and treat STDs. While it is the work of public and private groups, healthcare providers, and other organizations to inform at-risk populations, prevention is ultimately the responsibility of individuals.

As with many problems we look to solve, effective communication can yield significant results. Any effort to become informed, share awareness and discuss issues of using protection can elevate concerns about contracting and spreading STDs and initiate action. H