STDs News

Despite the importance of the specialty of infectious diseases in modern medicine — made all the more evident by the COVID-19 pandemic — many rural areas of the United States do not have access to specialized ID care.

Reported cases of gonorrhea in the United States declined for the first time in at least a decade in 2022 while cases of chlamydia remained stagnant and syphilis continued its years-long surge, data released by the CDC on Tuesday showed.

During a 2022 mpox outbreak in a Nigerian tertiary care facility, several confirmed cases presented atypically, according to a recent assessment of cases.

The FDA said this week that it is working with a French pharmaceutical company to temporarily import into the United States an antibiotic that can treat syphilis as a way to address the country’s penicillin shortage.

The percentage of girls and boys who initiated the HPV vaccine series before age 13 increased in recent years, according to study findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.

New guidance was published in 2023 for STD prevention, diabetic foot infections, infective endocarditis and more.

The FDA in 2023 approved treatments for several hospital-associated infections and fully approved a long-used COVID-19 medication, among other non-vaccine-related regulatory decisions.

Rates of STDs continue to rise in the United States, with CDC data showing increases year after year.

Major vaccine developments in 2023 included the approvals of the first two vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus, the first chikungunya vaccine, a new vaccine against malaria, and a move to new monovalent COVID-19 vaccines.

The front page of Healio | Infectious Disease News this year included stories about COVID-19, new vaccines, reversing decades of ID dogma, and more.