CDC estimates one in five U.S. residents has sexually transmitted infection

An estimated one in five people in the United States had a sexually transmitted infection at some point in 2018, with almost half of new infections in those under age 25, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today. 

That’s a total of nearly 68 million infections, including 26 million new infections that could result in nearly $16 billion in direct lifetime medical costs, CDC said.

“At a time when STIs are at an all-time high, they have fallen out of the national conversation,” said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “Yet, STIs are a preventable and treatable national health threat with substantial personal and economic impact. There is an urgent need to reverse the trend of increasing STIs, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected many STI prevention services.”