CDC estimates indicate about 20 percent of the U.S. population – approximately one in five people in the U.S. – had an STI on any given day in 2018, and STIs acquired that year will cost the American healthcare system nearly $16 billion in healthcare costs alone.
The only 100% effective way to prevent the transmission of STDs is abstinence. For sexually active persons, correct and consistent use of male latex condoms is highly effective in preventing many STDs.
Young people ages 15 to 24 account for half of all new STDs, although they represent just 25% of the sexually experienced population.
Young people in this age-group acquire an estimated half of all new STIs annually, yet they make up only one-quarter of the sexually active population. In 2018, people aged 15–24 represented a substantial proportion of all those with chlamydia (62%),2 gonorrhea (43%)3 and syphilis (22%)4 (see figure 2).
Although kissing is considered to be low-risk when compared to intercourse and oral sex, it's possible for kissing to transmit CMV, herpes, and syphilis. CMV can be present in saliva, and herpes and syphilis can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, particularly at times when sores are present.
Are condoms 100% effective? No type of condom prevents pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) 100% of the time. For better protection from pregnancy, many couples use condoms along with another method of birth control, like birth control pills or an IUD.
More than 1 million STIs are acquired every day. In 2020, WHO estimated 374 million new infections with one of four STIs: chlamydia (129 million), gonorrhoea (82 million), syphilis (7.1 million) and trichomoniasis (156 million).
You may have heard of sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, HIV, and others. STDs are super common — most people will get one at some point in their life. And young people between the ages of 15-24 have a higher chance of getting an STD than anyone else.
One in two sexually active persons will contract an STD/STI by age 25. One in four teens contract an STD/STI each year.
STDs are common, especially among young people. There were 26 million new sexually transmitted infections in 2018 in the United States. About half of these infections are in people between the ages of 15 and 24.
The rates of infection are highest among people ages 15 to 24, but the increase among older Americans was larger than for the rest of the population. The numbers were among the more than 2 million reported cases in all age groups for the three diseases in 2016, according to the CDC.
New data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that reported annual cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States continued to climb in 2019, reaching an all-time high for the sixth consecutive year.
PreventionAbstain. The most effective way to avoid STIs is to not have (abstain from) sex.Stay with one uninfected partner. ... Wait and test. ... Get vaccinated. ... Use condoms and dental dams consistently and correctly. ... Don't drink alcohol excessively or use drugs. ... Communicate. ... Consider male circumcision.More items...•
Know your sexual partners—The more partners you or your partners have, the higher your risk of getting an STI. Use a latex or polyurethane condom—Using a latex or polyurethane condom every time you have vaginal, oral, or anal sex reduces the risk of infection.
The most effective way to avoid STIs is to abstain from sexual contact or having sex only in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner.
If 2 people who don't have any STDs have sex, it's not possible for either of them to get one. A couple can't create an STD from nothing — they have to get spread from one person to another.
According to data from the CDC, this is the list of STDs from most common to least common, as measured by prevalence (the number of people who are currently infected):
Sexually transmitted diseases are not a new phenomenon. In fact, STDs have been reported since antiquity. The ancient Egyptians described symptoms that indicate herpes. Ancient Chinese and Indian texts also describe symptoms of STDs.
STDs are more common in younger people. In the US, about half of all new cases of STDs occur in people ages 15 to 24. This likely reflects riskier behavior in this age group, as younger people generally tend to have more new sexual partners and are less likely to be in a long-term monogamous relationship than older people.
Some STDs, such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomoniasis, can be treated with antibiotics. (Recently, a few cases of antibiotic-resistant “ super gonorrhea ” have been reported, but gonorrhea is still considered treatable in most cases.) However, there are certain STDs that doctors cannot get rid of with any current medications.
It’s difficult to acquire accurate data on the prevalence of STDs worldwide, because reporting is not always complete in every part of the world. The most recent World Health Organization estimates indicate a combined 374 million new cases per year of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomoniasis.
If you’re interested in finding out your probability of getting an STD, then you might want to look at more local data. The CDC publishes statistics on STDs by state. For the following STDs, you can view a table that lists the states in order, by the percent of the population with the STD.
Usually, when people are wondering about STD statistics, this is their ultimate question. In the US, the CDC estimates that 1 in 5 people currently have an STD. This may help to understand how big the risk of getting an STD actually is.