Recent STD trend data.

Since reaching an all-time low in 2000, the rate of primary and secondary syphilis has climbed steadily, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; it rose by 8% between 2003 and 2004, reaching 2.7 cases per 100,000 population. (1) The change has been driven mainly by increases among men--a near doubling since 2000 and a 12% rise between 2003 and 2004. For the first time in a decade, the syphilis rate did not increase among women in 2003-2004. Meanwhile, with a 2% decline from 2003 to 2004, the rate of gonorrhea infection has reached a record low of 114 cases per 100,000. The overall rate masks dramatic variations among racial groups: 21 per 100,000 among Asians and Pacific Islanders, 33 among whites, 71 among Hispanics, 118 among American Indians and Alaskan Natives, and 630 among blacks. The most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States is chlamydia, which occurred at a rate of 320 cases per 100,000 population in 2004, 6% higher than the previous year's rate. Although the analysts attribute the increase to improved screening and diagnosis, they also believe that reported infections represent only about one-third of the total.

(1.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Trends in Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the United States, 2004, Atlanta: CDC, 2005.