The number of people infected with sexually transmitted diseases continues to be on the rise in South Dakota. Health Officials say chlamydia is the most prevalent STD in the state with nearly four-thousand cases reported each year.
State Epidemiologist Lon Kightlinger says reported cases of gonorrhea, HIV, herpes, hepatitis, and the HPV virus numbers have been increasing for the past four years.
“We’re above the national rate and I think next year we’re going to be one of the high states for syphilis and this is bad. Many years we had zero cases of syphilis or one case and it was always an imported case but now we’ve got homegrown syphilis and we’ve got a lot of it,” says Kightlinger.
Health officials say using condoms, choosing sexual partners wisely, or abstaining from sex all together can decrease the risk of contracting an STD. They add that all sexually active South Dakotans should get tested for STDs if symptoms appear, or at least once every year.