The incidence of venereal diseases is on the rise you should know

In California, the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases has reached a new high (or low) level, where reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have surged to 300,000, an increase of 45 per cent over five years ago.

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span= "article-image inner caption-class"> to remind you that the only safe sex is condom use. (Image: Ivanko_Brnjakovic/iStock/Getty Images)In 2017, more than 75,000 Californians were diagnosed with gonorrhea, an increase of 16% over the previous year, and nearly 218,000 were diagnosed with chlamydia, an increase of 9% over 2016, the highest number since the report, according to the latest report of the California Department of Public Health. Since 1990.

However, health officials say the most worrying is the increase in syphilis and congenital syphilis (syphilis passed from mother to child), which led to 30 deaths in 2017. The total number of syphilis cases this year is just over 13,000. The last syphilis epidemic in the state was in 1987. Non-Californians may be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief (at least your state looks sunny). But it has been proved that the incidence of disease is increasing nationwide. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported more than 2 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in the United States in 2016, the highest number ever recorded. That's right, forever.

At that time, Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called the problem an increasing problem. The threat, and that the incidence of STDs exceeds our ability to cope.

So what are people doing behind record high figures? For more information, Livestrong.Com spoke with Heidi M. bauer, M. d., M. P. h., director of STD control at the California Department of Public Health. As Dr. Bauer explained, California is a large state with different geographic locations, so there are different reasons for the growth of different populations. Among men who have sex with men mainly in urban areas, the emergence of HIV prevention tools, such as pre-exposure prevention or pretreatment, has led to a decline in condom use. (Some reports also indicate that condom use among young people is declining.)

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&Dr. Bauer said: "People feel very safe about HIV infection. I think they have forgotten that they are still at risk of contracting other STDs." She adds that mobile dating apps also make it easy for people to meet, have sex and then go out to play, which becomes a challenge when a person diagnosed with STDs may want to inform a former partner.

However, in other parts of the state, as in other parts of the country, mobile applications and AIDS prevention strategies have nothing to do with this issue. On the contrary, poverty, homelessness, mental illness and extreme obstacles to health care are the culprits. The lack of funds also led to the closure of STD clinics in low-income areas. & Dr. Bauer said that once STD clinics were closed, people would not be able to access free, high-quality STD services.

So does this mean that STDs are controlled to some extent and limited to certain groups of people? No such luck. & People cross the county line, Dr. Bauer said, and people with infectious diseases do not live in just one state or county.

For safety reasons, condom use is obviously necessary, and routine testing is also necessary, especially considering that syphilis, gonorrhea and Chlamydia usually have no symptoms. If untreated, chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammation and infertility, while syphilis can cause severe brain damage. Fortunately, antibiotics can treat most cases (not super ones).

If you are sexually active and haven't had a STD exam for a while (or, to put it bluntly, never), go to the CDC for a STD exam and find a clinic near you. Knowledge is power! What do you think of

? Are you surprised by the rise in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases? Do you know people who are less and less strict about condom use? Do you often undergo examinations? Please let us know in the comments below.