November 8, 2005

GONORRHEA DOWN--SYPHILIS & CHLAMYDIA UP!



If you are single, cheating on your significant other, or are in some weird 'swinger' relationship...read this and beware!!!



ATLANTA - Gonorrhea has fallen to the lowest level on record in the United States, while the rates of other sexually transmitted diseases — syphilis and chlamydia — are on the rise.

The nation's gonorrhea rate fell to 113.5 cases per 100,000 people last year, the lowest level since the government started tracking cases in 1941.

Health officials saw increases in syphilis, which is far more rare but has been increasing since 2000. The rate of reported early-stage syphilis was 4.7 cases per 100,000 in 2004, up 81 percent since 2000.



The chlamydia rate rose to 319.6 cases per 100,000 in 2004, up about 6 percent from the year before. All three diseases are caused by sexually transmitted bacteria. However, Chlamydia is the most common of the three diseases. A total of 930,000 cases were reported last year.

But health officials believe as many as 2.8 million new cases may actually be occurring each year.




About 330,000 cases of gonorrhea — once known as "the clap" — were reported in 2004. Syphilis, a potentially deadly disease that first shows up as genital sores, has become relatively rare in the United States, with about 8,000 cases reported in 2004.



No comments: