Annual CDC report shows syphilis up 8 percent ATLANTA (CNN) -- The incidence of syphilis in the United States, though still low, rose in 2004 for the fourth consecutive year, even as gonorrhea dropped to the lowest rate recorded, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released Tuesday.
The CDC estimates that 19 million sexually transmitted disease (STD) infections, including HIV and other non-notifiable STDs, occur each year in the United States -- almost half of them among people ages 15 to 24, and carry an annual price tag of about $13 billion in direct medical costs.
All three STDs can increase the risk of HIV transmission, and some can lead to infertility, neurological damage, and even death, the CDC said. The annual report of surveillance data on the three nationally reportable sexually transmitted diseases concluded that nearly two-thirds of the increased incidence of the early stages of primary and secondary syphilis -- suggestive of recent infection -- was noted among men who have sex with men. (Posted 4:15 p.m.)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/08/tuesday/index.html
