Son Of An Itch! Nevada STD Cases Explode Since 2000, Says CDC
“Well, that wasn’t there before.” Turns out that’s the refrain of many Nevadans over two decades. ValuePenguin’s analysis of CDC data shows that Nevada STD cases have jumped a whopping 210% between the year 2000 and 2020.
The numbers are pretty stark. In 2000 the STD rate was 276.6 per 100,000 residents. In 2020 the rate ballooned to 857.3 per 100,000 residents! While the rate is down 10% since 2019, whoa! That is a huge increase. Given that 2020 was a pretty “slow” year (given the pandemic and all) we probably shouldn’t be too proud of that decrease.
Thankfully, we aren’t at the tippy top. Nevada ranked number 4 on the list, with Montana, Utah and North Dakota rounding out the top 3. Montana and North Dakota, we aren’t that surprised, but UTAH? Wow. We don’t know what to say.
STD cases in Nevada have skyrocketed… but which STDs?
Not all sexually transmitted diseases are the same, and some have seen a much faster resurgence than others. Here’s the STDs that are “burning” up the charts.
- Primary and Secondary Syphilis – The biggest gainer from 2000 to 2020, syphilis saw a massive 505% increase with a total of 41,655 cases.
- Congenital Syphilis – This is when a pregnant mother passes it on to their child. While the number is relatively low nationally (2,148 cases in 2020), the rate rose over 300%.
- Early Non-Primary, Non-Secondary Syphilis – No signs, no symptoms, but infected. This is up 285% over the twenty year period and hasn’t seen a decrease in over a decade.
- Chlamydia – It’s up 92% but thankfully saw a slight dip at the start of the pandemic – the only STD tracked to do so.
- Gonorrhea – Up 61% but it’s fluctuated wildly in 20 years, going up and down.
The resurgence of STDs is scary! In 2021, acting director of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention Raul Romaguera pointed out that we’ve gone from nearly eliminating some of these diseases to a full blown outbreak. “Less than 20 years ago, gonorrhea rates in the U.S. were at historic lows, syphilis was close to elimination and advances in chlamydia diagnostics made it easier to detect infections,” said Romaguera. “That progress has since unraveled, and our STD defenses are down. We must prioritize and focus our efforts to regain this lost ground and control the spread of STDs.”
No state was able to claim a drop in STD cases, with the closest being Delaware at a mere 18% increase, followed by Washington D.C. which increased 39%.
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