The number of sexually transmitted disease cases dropped in 2024, but thousands of newborns were still infected, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Sept. 24.
Some 2.24 million combined cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia were recorded in 2024, down 8.5 percent from 2023, the CDC said in a provisional report.
Cases of gonorrhea dropped 7.5 percent to 564,489. Cases of chlamydia dropped 8 percent to 1.5 million. And there were declines for various categories of syphilis—except for congenital syphilis, which increased 1.6 percent to 3,941 cases. That number was also up 82 percent from five years ago, while the combined case count of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was 13 percent higher than 10 years ago….