Sexually Transmitted Infections

Led by sharply rising rates of chlamydia, reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among 15- to 19-year-olds continued to rise in 2009. Syphilis rates have also increased, while rates of gonorrhea have declined for two years. Following several years of increase, the rate of reported gonorrhea among 15- to 19-year-olds declined in the two most recent years, reaching 405 per 100,000 in 2009—the lowest figure in more than a decade. For syphilis, a low of 1.6 cases per 100,000 population was reached in 2003; it has since climbed (in 2009) to 4.7. Chlamydial infection as of 2009 has increased by 85 percent since 1996, from 1,081 to 2,000 cases per 100,000.