Seven out of 10 new gonorrhea infections in U.S. are in people ages 15-24: CDC

Seventy percent of new gonorrhea infections and 63 percent of new chlamydia infections in the United States are seen in young people ages 15-24, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Feb. 13.

This Gram-stained photomicrograph reveals the presence of intracellular Gram-negative, Neisseria gonorrhoeae diplococcal bacteria, amongst numerous white blood cells (WBCs). Image/CDC

The report, Incidence, Prevalence, and Cost of Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United States, based on two separate studies, looks into the “severe human and economic burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States.”

The main of the main numbers that stick out from the report are that annually, approximately 20 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections occur in the United States, and young people, ages 15-24 account for half of the infections, while just representing one quarter of the sexually active population.

Besides the examples of gonorrhea and chlamydia given above, about half of the 14 million-plus new human papillomavirus (HPV) and of the nearly 800,000 new herpes simplex virus-II (HSV-II) infections are in this age group.

Other data released includes the number of annual new infections of all the STIs analyzed (chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B virus (HBV), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and trichomoniasis) are evenly divided between young men and woman, 49 percent and 51 percent, respectively.

In addition, the CDC reports the prevalence (both new and existing infections) of STIs are more than 110 million people nationwide, with HPV representing a vast majority of the STIs at nearly 80 million cases.

Not only is their a human health cost to these infections, ectopic pregnancies and infertility in the case of untreated or undiagnosed gonorrhea or chlamydia and cervical cancer in the case of HPV, their is a huge economic burden to an already overly strained US health care system.

According to the CDC “conservative estimates”, the lifetime cost of treating eight of the most common STIs contracted in just one year is $15.6 billion.

In the report, the CDC gives a laundry list of prevention and testing recommendations to minimize the negative, long-term consequences of STIs and also reduce healthcare costs.