Rhode Island has reported a record spike in the number of STDs diagnosed and treated during the past years and they seem to have found the culprit for the growth in STD rate: Social media and especially, Dating apps!
Syphilis cases have grown by a staggering 79% during the period of 2013-2014 and gonorrhea is not far behind with an increase of over 30%. HIV cases have also multiplied by nearly 33% and the age of those newly infected keep getting lower, the youngest person infected with HIV was only 13. The new drugs that have made HIV manageble have also made people less afraid of getting it.
Public health officials are blaming this surge of STD on the commodity of dating apps that allow complete strangers to engage in sexual activities without having any knowledge of the partner`s sexual past.
Other factors that work in favor of spreading STDs are alcohol, drugs and multiple sex partners. However, none of these activities are not as bad as the refusal to wear a condom while engaging in sexual activities. Not wearing protection during sex is still the number one cause of STDs.
In March, the NYC health department released an information which stated that the men in Chelsea had the highest rate of syphilis infection of the whole country and it also said that most of those infected were men who had sex with other men.
Basically every state in the country from New York to Utah or Texas have reported a spike in STD cases and say that most of those affected are African Americans and Hispanics. Just like you might have presumed, young adults is also the age categories in which most of the infections were diagnosed.
The correct behavior when diagnosed with an STD presumes notifying your previous partners so that they can be tested and treated if necessary, but in today`s world, where dating apps are making promiscuity so easily available, most of those diagnosed don`t notify their partners of their STD, because they have chosen to remain totally anonymous.
Public health officials are aware that they cannot stop people from engaging in casual sex, but they believe more can be done about sexual education. Condom use needs to be promoted more among young adults, so as to avoid contracting a serious STD.
Sexual education in schools has to be about more than just abstinence and it has to teach the teenagers who choose to have sex, the right way to protect themselves against STDs. Parents also need to become more involved in educating their young teenagers about the dangers of STDs and about the need to use a condom.
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