Federal health officials issued dire warnings this week about an STD epidemic that’s taken hold of the nation, with new data showing that dramatically more people were infected in 2018 than in the year prior.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new report did not mince words.

The rise in numbers is a “serious public health concern that requires immediate attention,” the health officials said.

If a patient does nothing about an infection, problems can get worse. Sexually transmitted diseases can lead to cancer, infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease, according to federal health officials.

There were more cases of three of the most commonly reported STDs – syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia – last year than in the year prior and, in some cases, more than have been recorded in decades.

Over 115,000 people had syphilis in 2018, more than in any year since 1991 and up 14% from 2017. Gonorrhea and chlamydia numbers rose 5% and 3%, respectively. At 1.7 million, there were more chlamydia cases reported to the CDC than any year that the agency has tracked the disease.

All three diseases can be cured, although drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea are becoming more and more common, health officials said.

HPV, the virus that causes genital warts, is currently the most common STD, according to federal health data, with more than one in five Americans infected.

The CDC’s starkest warnings were about congenital syphilis – babies born with a syphilis infection that they picked up in the womb. In 2018, 40% more babies were born with the disease than in 2017, according to federal data. That rise parallels a 36% increase in infections among women of childbearing age, the CDC said.

Babies born with syphilis are more likely to die or develop physical or mental disabilities. Congenital syphilis is preventable, the agency said, provided that women get tested and are treated.

Oregon had a below-average congenital syphilis rate last year, with 10 cases total, or 22 cases for every 100,000 live births. Oregon had only two such births in 2014, according to federal data.

The rate for the entire United States was 33. Texas had the highest rate, at 92 cases per 100,000 births.

Oregon also ranked below the national rate for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.

The CDC said the rise in STDs nationwide is likely due to fewer people using condoms, and state and local government cuts to STD programs. Governments have closed clinics, reduced access to STD testing and are now doing less follow-ups with patients.

“The resurgence of syphilis,” the agency wrote, is a “symptom of a deteriorating public health infrastructure and lack of access to health care.”

The CDC and its other health agencies are putting together a set of strategies to increase access to testing and treatment in an effort to reverse the epidemic. The agency said it will release the plan next year.

Meanwhile, health officials urged doctors to test regularly for STDs and pushed local health departments to make STD care more accessible, particularly to vulnerable people.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin

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