Local Doctors Seeing More STDs

About 70% of new sexually transmitted infections are in people between the ages of 15-24, with 820,000 new infections in the United States each year. Among the most commonly reported infectious disease is gonorrhea, which is becoming resistant to many forms of antibiotics. “The continued threat of multidrug-resistant gonorrhea makes protecting against [gonorrhea] more important than before,” said Dr. Lindsey Satterwhite, an epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention.Dr John Zerrer of Providence Urgent Care in Columbia, Missouri said there are three key steps to avoid spreading the disease.”The big one is abstinence, that’s the big one, two is consistently and correctly using condoms and number three your chance goes up with your number of sexually partners.” The University of Missouri offer resources to help prevent the spread of disease. Condoms, educational classes and testing are all provided. The CDC says an estimated 20 million people are diagnosed each year in the US costing the healthcare system nearly $16 billion in direct medical bills.