A new U.S. News and World report is revealing which states have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.
The report, which used data from the Centers for Disease Control and other available data on cumulative cases of sexually transmitted diseases.
The state with highest rate of STDs per 100,000 people was Mississippi, with 1,266 per 100,000. The report also found that Mississippi has a chlamydia rate of 750 per 100,000, a gonorrhea rate of 427.7 per 100,000 and a syphilis rate of 88.3 per 100,000.
Here is the report's full list of the 10 states with the highest rates of STDs:
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- Mississippi – 1,266 per 100,000
- Louisiana – 1,159.9 per 100,000
- Alaska – 1,091.2 per 100,000
- South Carolina – 1,052 per 100,000
- South Dakota – 1,009.1 per 100,000
- Alabama – 989.6 per 100,000
- Georgia – 987.5 per 100,000
- Arkansas – 942.4 per 100,000
- New Mexico – 925.9 per 100,000
- North Carolina – 922.2 per 100,000
Overall, more than 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported in the United States in 2021, according to the CDC.
The CDC also points out that more than half of all STD cases reported in 2021 (50.5%) were among adolescents between the ages of 15 and 24.
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The most concerning trend in STD cases in the United States appears to be the increasing rate of syphilis and congenital syphilis (congenital syphilis is when syphilis is giving to a baby by its mother during pregnancy). The rate of syphilis jumped by 28.6% between 2020 and 2021, and the rate of congenital syphilis jumped by 30.5% to 77.9 cases per 100,000 live births, according to the CDC. The rate of congenital syphilis in 2021 also represents a 219.3% increase from 2017.
The study of rates of STDs from 2020 to 2021 represents the first year-to-year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic likely led to the underreporting of STDS and an increase in transmission, according to the CDC, but it may never be possible to measure COVID-19's full impact on STDs in the United States.
