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[ArticleMedia]
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
By Zach H. - Staff Reporter
Sexually transmitted diseases are spreading more now than ever before.
Many organizations have been trying to find ways to prevent these diseases, but none seem to be working like they should.
Studies show that women and minorities are more likely than anyone else to have a sexually transmitted disease.
"The success we’ve been experiencing for a number of years in African-American heterosexual populations, particularly women, is beginning to be eroded,"
director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Division of STD Prevention, Dr. John Douglas said.
Not only has the gender or race not changed, but the average age of someone with an STD has also stayed the same.
Every year, nearly 19 million new STDs are diagnosed and more than half are in people between the ages of 15 to 24 years old. The number of cases for syphilis increased by 15.2 percent in 2007. Chlamydia and gonorrhea passed over 1.4 million cases last year. The rate of chlamydia is at a record high.These rates are not only alarming, they are also have non-health related effects "STDs affect not only individuals’ health, but also the economy," the CDC said.
This is because health care companies have pay $15.3 billion each year for doctors and hospitals to help these patients.
STDs are very commonly known to have very harsh side effects. Most symptoms do not show visible signs. You may not even know you have one until your doctor notifies you.
"That’s how STDs are so easily spread," professor and medical director, Dr. Yolanda Wimberly said. "It’s not people who know they have gonorrhea and who go out say, ‘I’m going to spread it to all these people.’ It’s the people who don’t even know, who maybe don’t get checked up regularly."
Doctors recommend that everybody should get tested for STDs once a year. Younger people, they say, should get tested twice.
(Some information courtesy of cdc.org)
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