Sex Diseases Still Rising; Chlamydia Is Leader

Results of a new study find that in the United States, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis cases are on the rise.

2006 was the second year in a row that saw an increase in all 3 of the leading sexually transmitted diseases, a fact that worries health professionals a great deal.

The CDC study found that chlamydia cases in 2006 topped the 1 million mark, the most cases to be reported since statistics were kept by the CDC starting in 1984.

Compared to 2005, the rate of positive gonorrhea cases rose by 5.5 percent.

Cases of syphilis jumped 13.8 percent from 2005 to 2006, also a sharp increase in cases.

"This is a hidden epidemic," said Dr. Stuart Berman, who helps tracks STDs for the CDC.

"Most people are not aware of how many STDs are out there, the risks that they run and the need for getting regular testing for some of these and treatment -- and having their partners treated. We'd like to see these rates going down."

"The honest truth is that we're on the early part of the learning curve with populations in which traditional approaches to prevention aren't working as effectively," said John Douglas, CDC's director of STD prevention, in a telephone call with reporters.

"When you see that almost half of these infections are among young people, that tells you we have to do a much better job of sex education in public schools," said Bill Stackhouse, director of the Institute for Gay Men's Health in New York, in a telephone interview today.

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