Private MD News

STD rates continue to climb

Category: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Rates of many common STDs are increasing across the country. For this reason, public health officials are urging individuals to seek STD testing to ensure that they are not passing infections along to their sexual partners.

Massachusetts health officials recently reported data indicating that rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have all increased in the state in recent years. Katherine Hsu, director of Ratelles STD/HIV Prevention Training Center of New England, told GoLocalWorcester.com that these increases are likely the result of improved STD testing.

"It’s not an epidemic, it’s endemic," Hsu told the news source "It's the kind of disease that we’re finding the more we look for it. The tests we use now pick it up better, and our practitioners are better at testing everyone who comes in."

Still, Hsu pointed out that there are potentially serious consequences to leaving an infection untreated, which underscores the importance of testing.

Women are often the affected the most by chlamydia infection. This is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends annual STD testing for all sexually active females over the age of 25.