Sexually Transmitted Infections

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GROSS: Top Ranking Cities For Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD ...

Want to know the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in your city? You might be surprised by the results. Find your city in the gallery below.

Want to know the most common sexually transmuted disease (STD) in your city? You might be surprised by the results.

Fusion, using data from the Center of Disease Control, found the top ranking cities for some of the most widespread STDs, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV.

Chlamydia

Top ranked cities: #1 Memphis, Tenn. #2 Anchorage, Alaska. #3 Philadelphia, Penn.

Chlamydia is the most common STD in the United States with more than 1.4 million cases reported in 2013. Most people with chlamydia never show symptoms, or not until months or years after infection. If untreated, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women, severely damaging the reproductive system. Symptoms are primarily an abnormal discharge, or burning sensation while urinating.

Treatment: Antibiotics.

Gonorrhea

Top ranked cities: #1 Memphis, Tenn. #2 Philadelphia, Penn. #3 St. Louis, Mo

Gonorrhea, also known as "the clap," can lead to reproduction problems: blocked fallopian tubes in woman; reduced fertility in men. Symptoms include burning sensation while urinating, and genital discharge in box sexes. Though, like chlamydia, not everyone will have symptoms.

Treatment: Antibiotics.

Syphilis

Top ranked cities: 1 San Francisco, Calif. #2 Atlanta, Ga. #3 Miami, Fla.

Syphilis is known as "the great imitator" because its symptoms are often confused for other ailments. At first, symptoms can includes sores in the mouth, vagina or rectum, followed by rough rashes. However, in the latent stage, symptoms seem to disappear completely while the infection is still present. If the patient reaches the final stage of the disease, it can bring about unexpected paralysis, numbness, blindness, and even death 10 to 30 years after being infected.

Treatment: Antibiotics. If diagnosed and treated early, there's a good chance at recovery.

HIV

Top ranked cities: #1 Dallas, Tx. #2 Detroit, Mich. #3 Denver, Col.

HIV is the well known as the disease that leads to AIDS. During the initial stages, patients will feel flu-like symptoms such as fevers and headaches. During the second stage, symptoms disappear while the disease continues to spread. If untreated, it can take up to 10 years before the final stage: AIDS. As the immune system weakens, patients cannot fight off the most common infections, or cancer, and typically only survive about three years if left untreated.

Treatment: There is no cure for HIV, though antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can keep the infected cells from multiplying. The HIV test can be completed by a small blood sample or cheek swab.

Find the STD testing center closest to you at STDCheck.

Doctors Issue Urgent Warning After Potentially Life-threatening STD Labeled An Epidemic In This One US State

A healthcare professional has shared a warning about a potentially life-threatening sexually transmitted disease (STD) that's been dubbed an 'epidemic' in one US state.

Like many other STDs, syphilis is spread through bacteria upon contact with infected fluids, and can be passed on if you have sex or engage in sexual acts with a person who is infected.

If not treated, it can cause serious problems in the long term - so it's important to know the signs to look out for, as the disease can be difficult to detect.

WLBT3 reports that if you were to get 100 people from Mississippi in the same room, according to statistics, at least one of them would have an STD.

Mississippi ranked 3rd in the country for reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis, according to a 2023 report by the CDC, while the state also came in the top five for gonorrhoea and chlamydia cases.

It has been considered an 'epidemic' (Getty Stock Image)

Dr Kayla Stover, a professor and vice chair of pharmacy practice at the University of Mississippi, said: "It is a nationwide epidemic. In Mississippi, we've seen an 80% increase in overall cases and a 1,000% increase in congenital syphilis, which is when the disease is passed from mother to baby."

Syphilis can be difficult to spot, considering symptoms can come and go and may not appear until years after becoming infected.

Speaking about what to look out for, Dr Stover explained: "The first stage of syphilis starts with a lesion in a person's mouth or genital area that starts a couple of weeks after exposure.

"It is often painless, can disappear and, therefore, can go unnoticed.

"If untreated, a rash may appear on a person's extremities - particularly the palms of the hands and soles of the feet - eight to 12 weeks after exposure. If still untreated, it may simply go away or lay dormant with possibility of reappearing, causing long-term damage."

Doctors are advising safe sex practices (Getty Stock Image)

In a worst-case health scenario, if left untreated, tertiary (the final stage) syphilis can lead to blindness, heart damage, nervous system damage, mental health disorders and potentially even brain damage.

That is why it's incredibly important to get tested yearly or more often if you have multiple sexual partners.

"This is a very common disease in this world, and nothing should be shameful or stigmatizing," Dr Stover added.

"Everybody should get tested because we're taking control of our health and we're making sure we stay healthy and that our partners are safe."

STDs Are Rampant In This State; Medical Community Calling Latest Boom An Epidemic

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT/Gray News) - Medical experts say Mississippi has some of the highest STD rates in the country.

The STD rate, depending on your source, is around 1,200 per 100,000 Mississippian, or 1 per every 100.

The state has long been plagued by high rates of gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV.

In years prior, Hinds County had the dishonor of having the highest STD rate of any county in the country.

However, the state's current boom of congenital syphilis, which follows a nationwide trend, has the medical community now labeling it an epidemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, congenital syphilis occurs when syphilis passes to babies during pregnancy, and it can cause serious health problems without treatment.

A 2023 report from the CDC also has Mississippi ranked third in the country for reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis. In that same report, Mississippi ranked fifth for gonorrhea and second for chlamydia.

Doctors say syphilis, like other sexually transmitted diseases, is spread through bacteria upon contact with infected fluids, something that usually happens through acts of sex.

With most STDs, the symptoms can make themselves known in several ways, but what makes syphilis different is that it can be harder to detect, with symptoms being minor or nothing at all.

Dr. Kayla Stover, professor and vice chair of pharmacy practice at the University of Mississippi, said if syphilis is left untreated, it could lie undetected in the body for years.

"Unless you are testing for syphilis, you might not know it's there," she said.

Deja Abdul-Haqq, the director of My Brother's Keeper, a local nonprofit focusing on public health, said the team has been seeing a spike in syphilis cases since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for the reason for the spike, she said: "To break it down really simple: condomless sex."

Abdul-Haqq said there is a lack of information regarding condom use in preventing sexually transmitted diseases.

In Mississippi schools, sex-education classes cannot include instruction and demonstrations on how to use a condom.

Stover echoed some of Abdul-Haqq's concerns, saying that Mississippi's sex education has not been as progressive as other states.

According to recent data, Black men in Mississippi have higher rates of syphilis than others. A 2019 report found that of the 690 cases of primary and secondary syphilis that year, 338 were in Black men.

The second-highest rate was found in Black women.

"The information regarding the solution to these issues usually gets to the Black communities late," Abdul-Haqq said. "So, it's not so much the individual, it's the environment that does not promote access to all of these prevention methods."

Throughout the years, billboard campaigns arose in the state and across the country to raise awareness about STDs.

While well-intentioned, Abdul-Haqq said these billboard campaigns may not be doing enough for those who may need the information the most.

"Culturally and aesthetically, it doesn't engage the Black community, and the message is too vague," she said. "We have to hit people with data."

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