Many can have an STI unknowingly if they are asymptomatic (without symptoms) or exhibit mild symptoms.
Screening is essential for diagnosing, treating, and preventing further spread.
This article reviews the latest statistics on the most common STIs and discusses how to reduce your risk.
FatCamera / Getty Images
FatCamera / Getty Images
How Many People Have STIs?
STI vs STD: What’s the Difference?
The terms “sexually transmitted infection” and “sexually transmitted disease” are often interchangeable.
When the infection causes symptoms or other complications, it becomes a sexually transmitted disease.
Though HIV is more common than gonorrhea or syphilis, it is often considered its own category of disease.
Notifiable STIs are STI cases that healthcare facilities must report to the government or health authorities.
Young people ages 15 to 25 are disproportionately affected.
Gonorrhea is treatable; a healthcare provider can prescribe medicine to cure the infection.
A mother can also spread syphilis to her baby during pregnancy, which is called congenital syphilis.
In 2020, 149 stillbirths and infant deaths were attributed to congenital syphilis.
Syphilis has four stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary; symptoms vary by stage.
Syphilis stages include:
Syphilis is treatablewith antibiotics.
Left untreated, syphilis can affect the brain, nervous symptoms, eyes, or ears.
STI Statistics
The below statistics represent the STI surveillance data collected during COVID-19 in 2020.
Health authorities advise interpreting the data cautiously, as the pandemic has affected screening and data collection.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected screening and surveillance for STIs.
The steep rise in congenital syphilis is reflective of the syphilis epidemic.
Congenital syphilis most commonly shows up when the mother doesnt receive timely prenatal care or syphilis testing.
STI Prevention
All sexually transmitted infections arepreventableand treatable, and some are curable.
Testing can help with timely treatment and prevent spreading the infection to others.
Additionally, having a sexually transmitted infection places people at ahigher risk for HIV.
STIs are preventable and treatable but may lead to serious complications if left untreated.
All STIs are treatable, and many are curable.
Early treatment can avoid further complications in the future.
According to the CDC’s 2020 surveillance report on STIs, the southern U.S. seems hardest hit by STIs.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.STDs & related conditions.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.National overview of STDs, 2020.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.STI prevalence, incidence, and cost estimates in the United States.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.STD facts chlamydia.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.STD facts gonorrhea.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.STD facts syphilis.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention.Congenital syphilis.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention.Syphilis.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Healthy people 2030: sexually transmitted infections.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.Healthy people 2020: sexually transmitted.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sexually transmitted diseases (stds) prevention.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How STDs impact women differently from men.
