The number of city residents infected with sexually transmitted diseases has skyrocketed this year — particularly among men, new data reveal.
Cases of gonorrhea shot up 21 percent to 12,352 individuals through September of this year, compared to 10,178 during the first nine months of 2014. The increase was 24 percent for men and 16 percent for women.
Meanwhile, the number of men infected with early latent syphilis jumped 15 percent, to 1,567 cases from 1,358 cases, while the rate was flat among women.
Likewise, the number of men infected with chlamydia surged 12 percent, to 17,962 cases from 15,992, but there was no significant increase among women.
Still, there were far more cases of women infected with chlamydia — 28,506 in total — than men. Health officials say chlamydia is more harmful to women, because it can cause infertility if left untreated. It’s of such concern that chlamydia screening is now conducted at 11 of the health clinics at the city’s public high schools.
City Health Department officials attributed much of the increase in STDs to men having unprotected sex with men.
Yet the results coincide with a dramatic drop in AIDS cases. The good news is that young men are no longer dying of AIDS thanks to effective medical treatment — but they’re catching other less deadly STDs instead, said Jay Varma, the Health Department’s deputy commissioner for disease controlhealth
There were 1,432 people diagnosed with AIDS last year, down from 1,784 in 2013, according to the city’s HIV Surveillance Report.
With young people less fearful of dying from AIDS, public health officials are worried about “condom fatigue” — not using condoms for protection — that could more rapidly spread STDs.
“We recognize that STD rates are rising,” Varma said.
That’s why the de Blasio administration has boosted funding for HIV/STD prevention. The $23 million is being used to expand health clinic hours in parts of The Bronx and Queens.
Number of New Yorkers with STDs has skyrocketed
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