Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)

diseases (STDs)? Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections passed from person to person through sexual activity. These infections can be bacterial, viral, or parasitic. While many STDs can be cured or treated with medication, untreated STDs can have severe health consequences, including infertility, pregnancy complications, cervical cancer, pelvic inflammtory disease, birth defects, and an up to five-fold increased risk of HIV transmission. A public health crisis The U.S. has the highest rate of STDs in the industrialized world, with approximately twenty million new cases of STDs each year. This costs the healthcare system $16 billion dollars annually.1 These rates are increasing in every demographic across the nation and can deeply affect people's lives. In 2019, the National Institutes for Health (NIH) deemed the rise of gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis in the U.S. a "major public health crisis."2 CHLAMYDIA, GONORRHEA & SYPHILIS: STDS ON THE RISE