--- title: STDs Reach a Record High in the U.S. CDC Says description: STDs can lead to health problems like infertility. Here's how often you should get tested for the most common STDs on the list: chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. canonical: https://time.com/4959040/std-testing-cdc/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-27T15:53:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:02.117Z article:section: Health og:title: More Americans Have an STD Than Ever Before, Officials Say og:description: Cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are on the rise. og:url: https://time.com/4959040/std-testing-cdc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef7384384760440d/6987788c0b72e312986dcfd0/condom-sex-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More Americans Have an STD Than Ever Before, Officials Say twitter:description: Cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are on the rise. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef7384384760440d/6987788c0b72e312986dcfd0/condom-sex-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # More Americans Have an STD Than Ever Before, Officials Say > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Almost Half of U.S. Adults Have HPV [Watch (HLS stream): Almost Half of U.S. Adults Have HPV](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mIf2qSk6.m3u8) (0:36)  _Published 2017-04-06. New data shows almost half of U.S. adults have HPV._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 27, 2017 3:53 PM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 27, 2017 3:53 PM UTC The number of people in the United States with one or more [sexually transmitted diseases](http://time.com/4558627/heres-why-teen-stds-are-hitting-all-time-highs/) has reached an all-time high in 2016, federal experts say. [2015](http://time.com/4538891/std-rates-record-high/) and [2014](http://time.com/4538891/std-rates-record-high/) were also record-setting years for STDs in the U.S. Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [report](https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/2017/2016-STD-Surveillance-Report.html) that in 2016, there were more than 2 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis diagnosed. Chlamydia made up the most new cases, at 1.6 million infections. The CDC believes the reported cases are likely an underestimate, and that closer to 20 million new cases of the infections occur every year in the U.S. All three of the STDs can be treated with antibiotics, but if people do not get tested—and therefore do not get treated—then the STDs can lead to bigger health problems, including infertility. Syphilis has risen nearly 18% compared to 2015, and most of the new cases are appearing among men, especially those who have sex with other men. There was also a 36% increase in syphilis infections in women between 2015 and 2016 and a 28% increase in babies born with syphilis. In 2016, 628 infants were born with the STD.  U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Women, but especially men, both experienced increases in gonorrhea cases. Gonorrhea has become an STD of great concern, since the infection is increasingly [growing resistant to the drugs used to treat it](http://time.com/4848887/gonorrhea-untreatable-antibiotic-resistance/). The CDC recommends that sexually active women under age 25, or women with risk factors like a new sex partner, or multiple sex partners, should get yearly chlamydia and gonorrhea tests and be tested for HIV if they’ve never been tested. For men who have sex with men, the CDC recommends yearly tests for syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. 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