Sexually trasmitted diseases are on the rise because of... homophobia?
Gonorrhea and syphilis are on the rise in the U.S., mostly in men who have sex with men, a trend the government said is linked to inadequate testing among people stymied by homophobia and limited access to health care.
The rate of new gonorrhea cases rose 4 percent in 2012 from the year before, while syphilis jumped 11 percent, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today in a report. Rates for chlamydia, the most common of the bacterial sexually transmitted diseases, gained less than 1 percent.
While all three diseases are curable with antibiotics, many people don’t get tested as recommended, said Gail Bolan, the director of the CDC’s STD prevention division. That’s especially the case for
syphilis, where the rise is entirely attributable to men, particularly those who are gay or bisexual. “We know that having access to high-quality health care is important to controlling and reducing STDs,” Bolan said in a telephone interview. “Some of our more-vulnerable populations don’t have access. There are a number of men who come in to our clinic for confidential services because they’re too embarrassed to see their primary care doctors.”
The CDC rate for gonorrhea was 107.5 cases out of 100,000 in 2012, while syphilis was 5 cases per 100,000 people. Sexually transmitted diseases, including these infections, cost the U.S. health-care system about $16 billion every year, according to the report.
Gay and bisexual men may not have access to high-quality care, because homophobia and stigma around STDs may prevent men from being tested, Bolan said. This is particularly true of poor people in the South, said George W. Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California at San Francisco.
“With most of these populations, having a sexually transmitted disease from having sex with another man is highly stigmatized,” he said. “They’d rather not get tested for HIV, syphilis, or whatever. They don’t want it to show up on their records.”
That’s problematic because bacterial diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea make it easier for people to acquire serious viral infections, such as HIV, Rutherford said. What’s more, patients who are screened and treated lower the spread of disease, since their future sexual partners aren’t infected.
All I can do is shake my head... not just at the piece but at the idiots who will read this claptrap and nod their heads up and down in agreement.
Complete and total bovine fecal matter being passed off as objective truth.
We are so screwed.