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A famous TikTok star with 1.7 million followers and who goes by the name Nurse Holly has been getting inundated with scorn for the past few days on social media for daring to state the most obvious and commonsensical of medical truths: abstinence “best” prevents STDs. In the recent TikTok video, Nurse Holly employs some flashy captions to relay a rather simple message. “The best way to prevent STDs is waiting for sex until marriage. Just the truth,” she says in the video. Though the video has since been deleted, people on social media have still been sharing it on...

Baltimore has the highest rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the US, according to government statistics. Data has revealed the Maryland city has 2,004 STI cases per 100,000 people, with chlamydia the most common infection. In second place with a rate of 1,872 cases per 100,000 was Jackson, Mississippi, followed by Philadelphia, San Francisco and Montgomery, Alabama. The data reflects statistics for 2018, when cases of syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia hit an all-time high in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Australian researchers are sounding the alarm over cases of a highly infectious intestinal illness that appear to be resistant to all forms of standard oral antibiotic treatment. The disease is called shigellosis, a form of dysentery. So far, most cases have involved gay and bisexual men in the Australian state of Victoria, the researchers said.

It sounds contradictory: Young people, we’re told, are having less sex than older generations did at the same age. But they’re also contracting more sexually transmitted diseases than any other group, and the rates of infection are accelerating at an alarming pace. Last year, combined cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia reached an all-time high with half the reported infections occurring in adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 24. The reason for the increases among younger people is likely a combination of factors, ranging from reduced access to health care to riskier behavior among those who are sexually active....

Three major sexually-transmitted diseases reached a historic high in infection cases in 2018, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The combined number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis have continued to increase, reaching what the CDC described as “an all-time high in the United States in 2018.” According to a report released Tuesday, the CDC found that from 2017 to 2018, chlamydia cases increased 3 percent to more than 1.7 million cases, the highest number of such cases ever reported to the CDC. Gonorrhea cases increased 5 percent to more than 580,000,...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its 2018 STD Surveillance report, which revealed that after five straight years of dramatic increases, the Unites States saw an all-time high of sexual transmitted illness rates. In a nutshell, the report revealed that there were 1.8 million cases of chlamydia in 2018 (a 19 percent increase since 2014); 583,405 cases of gonorrhea (a 63 percent increase since 2014); 35,063 cases in primary and secondary syphilis (a 71 percent increase since 2014); and 1,306 cases of congenital syphilis (a 185 percent increase since 2014).

The number of combined cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia in the United States rose to a record high last year, including an alarming jump in the rate of newborn deaths caused by congenital syphilis, according to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. More than 2.4 million syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia infections were reported in the United States in 2018, an increase of more than 100,000 cases from the previous year, the center said in its annual Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report. It attributed the increase to several factors, including a decline in condom...

A surge in "chemsex" parties, where people spend days getting high on drugs and having sex with scores of partners, is re-fueling epidemics of HIV among gay men in European towns and cities, doctors say. Despite much higher risks of contracting the virus that causes AIDS, as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), users search online "hook-up" apps like Grindr for tags such as "high and horny" or "party and play" to find others wanting drug-heightened and often anonymous and unprotected sex. The result, AIDS experts say, is that in cities across Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly among men...

NEW YORK, August 2 (C-Fam) The White House confirmed the launch of a global U.S. campaign to promote acceptance of homosexual acts last week after several months of confusion and misinformation surrounding the administration’s position on LGBT issues. “The Trump Administration has launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality and invites all nations to join us!” read a tweet from the White House last week. The tweet was a message of support for the LGBT advocacy of openly gay Richard Grenell, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. The tweet confirmed conservative concerns about the Trump administration’s position on LGBT issues. Last...

Syphilis rates in Europe have steadily increased over the past decade, reaching an all-time recorded high in 2017 with more than 33,000 cases, according to data reported by the European CDC. The spike has been seen primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM) living in urban areas. (snip) Over the 7-year interval, rates more than doubled in five countries — Iceland (876%), Ireland (224%), the United Kingdom (153%), Germany (144%) and Malta (123%). MSM accounted for 62% of the 152,233 syphilis cases reported between 2007 and 2017 in which the sexual orientation of the patient was known, whereas...

“My boyfriend can’t get over how many people I’ve slept with. I shouldn’t have told him, but he pressed me for the info. He was 'nerdy’ for most of high school and college, and just started coming into his own in his mid to late 20s. I have been dating consistently for years, and have had my fair share of hookups and relationships. And while I don’t think my number is crazy at all, he can’t deal with the discrepancy. We’ve been dating for two years and we’re serious. I don’t want to break up. How can I handle this?”...

Pre-exposure prophylaxis use to protect against HIV infection was associated with higher infection rates of other sexually transmitted diseases, according to a new study. An analysis in Australia found more than 2,900 sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in nearly half of the study's participants from when they started using PrEP. Nearly 3,000 gay and bisexual men were given access to the medication. The study found infections per participant ranged from zero to 12. The study, published Tuesday in JAMA, found 25% of study participants had multiple infections that accounted for 76% of all infections diagnosed. The incidence of infections increased...

Houston Public Library is apologizing after a man charged for sexually assaulting a child was allowed to entertain children at Drag Queen storytime. The library said Friday that a review revealed the volunteer never completed a background check before he was allowed to participate in the program. Albert Alfonso Garza, 32, was last seen reading to children at the Montrose Library in September 2018. ABC13 Eyewitness News has learned Garza was charged with child sex assault in 2008. According to records, his victim was a child under the age of 14 years old. The library said appropriate action is being...

Boston, Mass. – The rate of infectious disease (ID) markers, such as those for HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV), in donated blood is higher for men who have sex with men (MSM) relative to blood donors overall, according to an analysis of data from more than 8.4 million blood donations collected from January 2017 through September 2018 by the American Red Cross. However, the ID marker rates for reinstated (1.44%) and newly eligible (2.0%) MSM donors were similar to those of first-time male donors (1.52%). The findings were presented at the 2018 AABB Annual Meeting,...

In a disturbing national trend, the number of three common sexually transmitted diseases hit a record high last year, with nearly 2.3 million cases reported in the U.S. – eclipsing the record set in 2016 by more than 200,000 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Comparing data from 2013 with 2017's preliminary data showed "steep, sustained increases" in reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, the CDC said, also warning that gonorrhea is showing signs of becoming resistant to the antibiotics used to treat it. "We are sliding backward," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC's...

Sexually-transmitted diseases continue to hit all-time highs in the U.S. with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting a 10 percent spike for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in 2017. The federal health agency said in a report released Tuesday that the numbers, which include nearly 2.3 million new cases of the aforementioned diseases, reflect a “steep, sustained increase” in STDs since 2013. “We’re sliding backward,” Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said. “It is evident the systems that identify, treat and ultimately prevent STDs are strained to near-breaking point.”...

A rare sexually transmitted disease that causes flesh-eating ulcers on patients’ genitalia has popped up in England, the Lancashire Post reported. [Snip] Donovanosis, which is spread through sexual intercourse with an infected patient, or by coming into contact with a patient's infected ulcer, is typically seen in India, New Guinea, parts of the Caribbean, central Australia and southern Africa. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the painless disease causes progressive ulcerative lesions on the genitals or perineum, which are prone to heavy bleeding. Patients are at risk of extragenital infections that can occur in the pelvic...

The rollout of a drug that prevents H.I.V. infection was followed by a reduction in condom use among gay and bisexual men in Australia, according to a study published in the journal Lancet H.I.V. But so effective was the drug that H.I.V. infection rates in the study region declined anyway, the researchers concluded. During the rapid distribution of a drug that prevents infection — a strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — among gay and bisexual men in Australia, researchers found that unprotected sex increased even among those not on PrEP, suggesting that perceptions of risk had declined in communities...

Cherie DeVille began her professional life as a licensed physical therapist. She was living in Tennessee when, at 32 years old, she decided that it was time for an "exciting and outside the box" opportunity. She flew to California and became a porn star. DeVille, now 39, shoots approximately 200 scenes a year, likening the excitement of her performances to sky-diving. But she says she’s interested in another unlikely career change, this time entering politics to become president of the United States. “I really do believe that I can do this and that I can do this well,” DeVille told...

A drug-fueled sex fad called "chemsex" was linked to increased risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among men who have sex with men (MSM), researchers found. Gay, bisexual or other MSM who disclosed use of chemsex were more likely to be newly diagnosed with HIV infection, acute bacterial and rectal STIs, and hepatitis C, reported Mark Pakianathan, MBChB, of Wandsworth Integrated Sexual Health at The Courtyard Clinic in London, and colleagues.