‘Shocking’ rise in sexually transmitted infections during COVID alarms health workers

‘In 2019, Columbus, Ohio, had seven reported cases of congenital syphilis, or cases in which a newborn child was infected during pregnancy. Two years later, that number rose to 20. And now? “Year to date, we’ve already seen 28 cases,” said Dr. Mysheika Roberts, the city’s health commissioner. One of this year’s cases, she added, resulted in the death of a child.

“These are shocking numbers,” said David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) Directors, who characterized the situation as “out-of-control.” (Harvey says, despite his organization’s name, it prefers the term STI as less stigmatizing.) According to preliminary numbers from the CDC, the overall number of syphilis cases, which includes congenital syphilis and syphilis transmitted through sexual contact, rose nearly 70% between 2017 and 2021. It increased by nearly 28% in 2021 alone, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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