Number of sexually-transmitted diseases on rise in Arizona
May 22, 2018, 4:31 AM
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PHOENIX — The number of reported sexually-transmitted diseases is on the rise in Arizona.
There has been a 20 percent increase in a number of sexually-transmitted diseases in the state over the past year.
Jessica Rigler, a spokeswoman with the Arizona Department of Health Services, said the department has seen a statewide increase in reported cases of gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia.
“(The) majority of our STD cases have been and continue to be chlamydia,” Rigler told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
“So far this year we’ve had nearly 16,000 reports of chlamydia in Arizona.”
But Rigler said officials are still struggling to figure out the root of the cause.
“It’s very difficult to say whats driving this increase in STDs,” she said.
“We do know that there’s better screening out there now and so there are more STDs being screened for.
“So we suspect that these were already out there previously but we’re getting more reported to us. We think some of this is probably driven by an actual increase in STD cases.”
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Kinnerup contributed to this report.