Wrap It Up: These Are The Top 3 STDs Spreading In Michigan

Last week in Michigan and across the country was STI Awareness week

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While the week is over it's never too late to protector yourself.

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, MDHHS chief medical executive of Michigan said:

"We can slow down the spread of STIs through routine testing, which helps keep ourselves and our partners safe. Early treatment of STIs is critical to avoid serious complications. We encourage Michiganders to make STI testing part of their regular healthcare routine.

 

What Is The Most Common STI In Michigan?

Chlamydia and gonorrhea remain the most common STIs in Michigan, while syphilis has been increasing at an alarming rate across demographic groups throughout the state.

What Are The Symptoms of Chlamydia?

Symptoms in women can include an abnormal vaginal discharge, pain during sex, and a burning sensation when peeing. Symptoms in men can include a discharge from the penis, pain when urinating, and pain and swelling in one or both testicles. Chlamydia can also infect the rectum, causing rectal pain, discharge, or bleeding.

What Are The Symptoms of Gonorrhea?

Some common symptoms in men include painful urination, pus-like discharge from the penis, and pain or swelling in one testicle. Women may experience increased vaginal discharge, painful urination, vaginal bleeding between periods, and abdominal or pelvic pain. Gonorrhea can also affect other parts of the body, such as the rectum and eyes, and can cause fever and joint pain if it spreads through the bloodstream

What Are The Symptoms of Syphilis?

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that develops in stages, each with different signs and symptoms. In the primary stage, a painless sore called a chancre appears at the site of infection In the secondary stage, symptoms may include a skin rash, fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and hair loss. In the latent stage, there may be no symptoms, but the infection can still be transmitted. In the tertiary stage, which can occur years after infection, syphilis can cause serious health problems such as damage to the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones, and joints

Syphilis has increased by 25% since 2020 and rates have doubled since 2013.

How You Can Prevent Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers up the following advice.

• Abstinence. The most reliable way to avoid infection is to not have sex (i.e., anal, vaginal or oral).

• Vaccination. Vaccines are safe, effective, and recommended ways to prevent hepatitis B and HPV

• Reduce Number of Sex Partners

• Mutual Monogamy

• Use Condoms