STI Rates At Highest Numbers Ever In U.S.
Yet another consequence of the ongoing pandemic: More STIs. Obviously, if people had been tested and treated over the last year and a half, the STI numbers wouldn’t be as high as they are right now, as clinics and health care providers play catch-up. (Also: were people fucking more during the first year of the pandemic, when they were told to not “mix households”?) Via The Guardian:
Following an artificial dip in STI rates during the Covid-19 pandemic, STI rates are now on the rise again while health funding is still being allocated to address the pandemic. “All told, at the end of the day, STI rates are at their highest numbers in American history and that has continued through the pandemic up to the current time,” said executive director of the National Coalition of STD directors (NCSD) David C. Harvey.
Experts have called the rebound of STI cases – and a projected increase in infections – the result of a perfect storm of sluggish STI testing, changing behaviors as pandemic restrictions are lifted nationwide and persistent problems around STI education, falling condom use and a weak public healthcare infrastructure.
For many health epidemics, including STIs, the pandemic complicated the ability of US doctors to diagnose and treat patients. Many sexual health clinics that would normally screen patients shut down in the early stages of the pandemic, with four out of five clinics suspending service or shutting down completely according to a poll from NCSD.
It’s been weird to read things over the last few months that refer to the pandemic in the past tense or suggest that it’s coming to an end (“as pandemic restrictions are lifted nationwide”), given there are 2,000 people dying every day from it and nearly 100,000 new infections daily (almost double the amount from the same time last year—before the vaccines!). I guess for most people, COVID is basically over (unless you’re currently sick, living with long COVID, or mourning a dead loved one). Must be nice.
Changes in sexual behavior as Covid-19 restrictions lifted across the nation have also led to an increase in STI rates. As noted by Park, people who had previously limited casual sex during the pandemic have continued pre-pandemic behaviors, only this time with STI testing efforts being dampened because of the pandemic.
“A lot of my patients were sort of flexing their vaccination status on their dating app to try entice partners into having sex,” said Park.
[The Guardian: STI rates ‘at their highest numbers’ in US as Covid dominates health funding]
