Private MD News

Increase in casual encounters, sexually transmitted diseases

Category: Chlamydia

The rise in the availability of technology has made most things in life easier - including hooking up. According to CBS Sacramento, doctors are pointing to casual encounters enabled by online dating sites to a recent rise in sexually transmitted diseases.

"It's very alarming to us because we know there are some STDs that are curable, but there are other STDs that we can treat, but cannot cure," Paolo Cancio, an infectious disease specialist with the AIDS and STD prevention program CARES, told the news source

Cancio mentioned that while doctors are not sure what is causing the uptick, he has met with patients who hooked up with someone they met online and later required treatment for a sexually transmitted disease. CBS Sacramento noted that smartphone applications are enabling people to find people to hook up based on their neighborhood.

However, Cancio and his team have launched an app of their own - one to help smartphone users find free condom dispensers set up by CARES. The dispensers are conveniently located at nearby businesses, and the app, Condom Finder, provides users with the exact address.

STD increase reflected in US
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, increased STD rates are reflected nationally. Almost 20 million new STDs are diagnosed annually, the majority of which are among young adults ages 15 to 24. The CDC noted that contracting STDs increases one's risk of HIV and other health complications, such as infertility.

Anonymous STD testing is available to those who seek a private and discrete diagnosis. The CDC recommends that sexually active women get an annual chlamydia screening, and that those with new or multiple partners should get a gonorrhea screening yearly.