The United States’ persistently high rates of sexually transmitted infections are incurring billions of dollars in medical costs, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just in time for Valentines Day. The new report details what one of the CDC researchers describes as “an ongoing, severe, STI epidemic” in this country.
The U.S. has the highest rate of STDs of any nation in the industrialized world, with roughly 110 million total incidents of infection in 2008. Treating all of those infections cost the country about $16 billion, the CDC estimated. And the the ongoing issue is hitting young adults the hardest: Americans between the ages of 15 and 24 years old account for just 25 percent of the nation’s sexually active population, but as much as half of all sexually transmitted infections.
Glad to see this. It’s always good to have these numbers presented, for anyone to see, to call out how important it is to practice safe sex. ALWAYS!