Plus, gonorrhea has become harder to treat as it grows resistant to antibiotics. Infections that are not caught and treated early can result in life-long or fatal consequences. While many STDs can be prevented and cured, the growing rates in the region pose a public health risk. “We are likely going to see similar trends to what we were seeing pre-COVID,” he said. Tilghman noted that STD rates had already started to rise again toward the end of 2020. With limited routine testing, asymptomatic STDs may have gone undetected, Tilghman said, and some infections were likely treated based on patients’ symptoms without a positive test. Health care facilities limited outpatient services, and patients may have been hesitant to risk coronavirus exposure for an STD test. While the pandemic disrupted society in ways that reduced the spread of STDs, experts said it probably also curbed testing. “At the local level, as well as at the state and national levels, we’re seeing historically high cases and rates of these bacterial sexually transmitted infections.” Show more Show more Winston Tilghman, STD controller for the county. “I don’t think that’s indicative of the long-term trends that we can expect,” said Dr. Social distancing measures implemented in the early part of the pandemic may have contributed to a drop in those rates in 2020, but the county official managing STD public health strategy warns that the recent data likely doesn’t indicate a downturn. If left untreated, the complications from STDs can be serious - even deadly - and nationwide, they cost billions of dollars every year. STDs are a major public health issue that affect marginalized groups, such as people of color, more than others. Fix This: A community reporting project from inewsource.Rising STDs in San Diego region worry local experts Close
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