7.5.2: Other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
The term sexually transmitted diseases (STD) implies that the STI has progressed into a symptomatic disease state. Many infections can be carried and passed to a partner without experiencing any symptoms - chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes and HIV are examples of this ( CDC , 2023b). Evidence-based public health measures include prevention, testing, and early or even prophylactic treatment of partners.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise once again in the U.S. In fact, according to a recent report, the U.S. saw over 2.5 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia in 2022 - with syphilis being the largest increase. All of these diseases are bacterial infections, and can be treated with antibiotics. But letting them progress without treatment can cause permanent damage to reproductive organs (as with pelvic inflammatory disease caused by chlamydia and gonorrhea), and tertiary syphilis (which damages many organ systems and can cause blindness, paralysis, dementia, and strokes). Perhaps most concerning, congenital syphilis cases increased 183% over the past 5 years. Congenital syphilis is passed from an infected mother to a fetus and can cause blindness, intellectual disability, stillbirth and infant death (CDC, 2024).