Two of the three most common sexually transmitted diseases increased in 2020 compared to 2019 despite experiencing a downtick at the beginning of that year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States decreased during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but most resurged by the end of that year,” the CDC said in a new report.
The CDC on Tuesday released its Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2020 Report, which it said was compiled despite COVID-19 having “significantly affected STD surveillance and prevention efforts” across the country.
“This report reflects the realities of a strained public health infrastructure, while simultaneously providing the most current data on reported cases of STDs in the United States,” the CDC advised. “Trends presented in this report should be interpreted cautiously.”
The data primarily concerns three common STDs: chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, which combined both primary and secondary stage infections.
Reported cases of all four diseases “dramatically decreased” during the early months of the pandemic, with most dips starting even before a national emergency was declared in mid-March of 2020. Cases of chlamydia remained below 2019 levels for the rest of 2020, but reported cases of gonorrhea and syphilis surpassed their 2019 levels, “indicating continued surges in STDs,” per the CDC.
“Even in the face of a pandemic, 2.4 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported,” the CDC added. The CDC recorded 2.5 million cases overall in 2019.
Chlamydia was the most commonly-reported of the diseases and made up over half of the 2020 total at 1.6 million reported cases, and was the only of the diseases to see a slight decrease from the year prior, down from 1.8 million reported cases in 2019.
There were 677,769 reported cases of gonorrhea in 2020, up from 616,392 the year before; the U.S. saw 133,945 reported cases of syphilis, up from 129,813 in 2019 and a total of 2,148 reported cases of congenital syphilis, or fetal contraction of the disease in-utero, up from 1,870 cases in 2020.
Congenital syphilis has also experienced the sharpest uptick since 2016 totals, when the CDC recorded a mere 641 cases; the 2,148 recorded in 2020 represent a 235% increase from 2016.
A pregnant mother who has untreated syphilis is likely to pass the disease on to her fetus, which can in turn lead to higher risks of miscarriage, stillbirth or even death of newborn babies.
The CDC also released a state-by-state breakdown of reported case rates for each STD per 100,000 individuals. Mississippi was first in case rates for both chlamydia and gonorrhea; Nevada had the highest case rates of syphilis and New Mexico was first for congenital syphilis.
Syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia can all be treated with the right antibiotics, if caught early enough.
