The majority of Americans with a sexually transmitted infection caught it from an unfaithful partner, according to a new survey.
Fifty-five percent of people who have ever contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI), admitted they contracted it because their boyfriend or girlfriend had cheated on them, gotten infected and then – knowingly or unknowingly – passed it on.
And almost half of the people surveyed never discussed STI status with their partners, while roughly one in eight said their cheating partner lied about their STI status.
Among those with an infection, the most common was chlamydia, followed by gonorrhea and genital herpes.
Around 20 million Americans test positive for STIs every year, a startling statistic experts say is symptomatic of a larger public health crisis, which has seen disease rates reach historic highs.
An estimated 55 percent of Americans with sexually transmitted infections contracted them from a cheating partner, according to a nationally representative survey
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The survey, conducted by DatingNews.com, asked 1,000 Americans ranging from 18 to 79 years old from across the country about their sexual habits, including STI screening practices, and how concerned they are about contracting an infection.
Nearly one in five respondents (18 percent) reported being diagnosed with an STI.
Chlamydia was the most prevalent infection, accounting for 36 percent of cases, followed by gonorrhea at 30 percent, and genital herpes, which affected 24 percent of people.
Key to preventing infections and curbing the spread is communication and honesty about one’s STI status. Hiding it from a partner raises the odds the other will be exposed to or contract a potentially severe infection without their knowledge, which means they may not know to get tested.
According to the survey, more than one in three Americans has never been tested for STIs, including more than half of Baby Boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) and 33 percent of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996).
Young people in their 20s generally have the highest rates of STDs, but those rates are skyrocketing in older adults. Chlamydia diagnoses in people over 65 years old have more than tripled since 2010, while gonorrhea cases multiplied about six-fold and syphilis cases surged nearly ten-fold.
The two maps show how the rate of syphilis cases has shifted across the US since 2013
People who are unaware of their status often do not get timely treatment, and STIs that go untreated can have lifelong consequences, including infertility, an increased risk of HIV, pregnancy complications, cancer, and brain damage.
Many people skip testing out of embarrassment or fear of judgement from healthcare workers and their peers. Others go without testing due to a lack of access to healthcare services or an inability to pay.
A lack of standardized sex education in schools also means many Americans don’t understand their risks for diseases, how to protect themselves, signs to watch for, and the importance of regular screening.
Regular STI testing is crucial, particularly for women, who often have more serious health problems stemming from STIs than men.
The CDC recommends annual screening for sexually active individuals, particularly those under 25 or those with new or multiple sex partners.
Between 10 and 15 percent of women with untreated chlamydia develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), as well as infection of the fallopian tubes, causing permanent damage to the tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues, which can lead to infertility.
The most common STI in the US is the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can damage the DNA in cells and disrupt how they grow and die while turning off genes that suppress the growth of cancer cells.
About 80 million Americans, or one in four, are infected with HPV, making it the most common STI in the US.
Over time, DNA damage inflicted by the virus changes the way cells behave, allowing them to grow into cancerous lesions that can form tumors. This can lead to cancer in a woman’s cervix.
While HPV can be prevented with a vaccine, other infections, including HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and herpes, cannot. Using condoms and being tested regularly are the best and most effective ways to prevent infection.
Syphilis is currently skyrocketing in the US amid a decades-long rise that health officials say has gone unchecked since 2000.
An annual report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed 207,300 cases of the STD — which can cause sores on the genitals and mouth — were diagnosed nationwide in 2022, the latest year available.
That marked a 17 percent rise in a year and an 83 percent surge compared to five years ago.
The data also showed a 30 percent rise in cases of congenital syphilis — when the mother passes the disease to her baby — which is a particular cause of concern because it puts them at risk of stillbirth and birth defects.
Experts have given a variety of reasons for the alarming uptick, from declining condom use to stigma and a lack of access to preventive care to a lack of symptoms lulling someone into a false sense of security.
About half of people with syphilis do not experience symptoms such as genital sores and a rash and only learn of their infection when they get screened by a doctor.
Untreated syphilis can be life-threatening.
Late-stage syphilis can cause damage to the heart and blood vessels, neurological complications such as inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, blindness, and nerve damage.
While cases of syphilis have maintained a steady uptick in recent decades, chlamydia rates appear flat overall.
The highest number of chlamydia cases recorded in the US since 1985 was 1.8 million in 2019. The annual average from 2020 to 2022, the most recent year for which data are available, was about 1.6 million.
Gonorrhea rates, meanwhile, have fluctuated in recent years. Cases rose 22 percent between 2018 and 2021 but fell nine percent in 2022.
Untreated gonorrhea, like chlamydia, can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and potentially infertility, as well as an increased risk of HIV.
And rates of genital herpes, caused primarily by the herpes simplex virus type 2, appear relatively flat.
Syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea are curable with the help of antibiotics. Genital herpes does not have a cure but it can be prevented with regular condom use.
