"Out of control" STD situation prompts call for changes: U.S. media

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Sharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases (STD), including a 26 percent rise in new syphilis infections reported last year, are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts, reported The Associated Press early this week.

"It is imperative that we ... work to rebuild, innovate, and expand (STD) prevention in the United States," Leandro Mena of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was quoted as telling a medical conference on such diseases.

Infections rates for some STDs, including gonorrhea and syphilis, have been rising for years. Last year the rate of syphilis cases reached its highest since 1991 and the total number of cases hit its highest since 1948. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) cases are also on the rise, up 16 percent last year, according to the report.

"And an international outbreak of monkeypox, which is being spread mainly between men who have sex with other men, has further highlighted the nation's worsening problem with diseases spread mostly through sex," said the report.

David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, called the situation "out of control," it added.