Online Dating Linked to Increase in Sexually Transmitted Diseases

A boost in sexually transmitted diseases may possibly be connected to the speedy world of web dating.

"With online dating, you don’t have to spend a week in a bar to find somebody you’re comfortable with. People are doing it online and they’re doing it faster," St Louis Director of Health Pam Walker just recently said to CSB News.

"[Say you have] two people who know they are HIV positive feel like they can have sex without a condom, because they’re already infected. [But] what they are [really] doing is giving each other syphilis.”

To be certain, chlamydia increased 3% , syphilis increased by 46%, gonorrhea increased 31% in the Saint Louis area. Nevertheless, Walker remarks the upsurges really aren't related to any reductions in health department budget.

"I have not cut communicable disease control in the five years that I’ve been director," Walker stated.

Funding increases have not yet been make by Walker, but indicates that lowering sexually transmitted diseases could be a costly public policy issue that nobody wants to deal with.

"If I put 20 disease investigators in the field and they followed those 55 people around who have syphilis, could I probably get rid of it?" Walker questioned. "Yeah, but that would cost about $400,000."

Therefore, Walker is certainly requesting the help of private providers together with local community STD testing clinics so that she will be able to discover the sexual partners of persons with known STDs. She refers to a brand new law within her state. Expedited Partner Therapy law, that allows STD Testing clincis to disperse a sufficient amount of anti-biotics to a recognized carrier of chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis so that she can start treating their sex partners.

"If you have gonorrhea, then your partner probably has gonorrhea," Walker said. "I need to talk to that partner and find out if they have three other partners, or we never break the chain."

Walker is mostly worried about the rise in chlamydia since it displays virtually no signs or symptoms, and in case of women don’t address it, it can cause them to become infertile. As a result of info through the CDC, Walker estimates that 1 in 3 women in her community might have the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia.

When considering internet dating, steady but slow remains the best path to take. For those who are concerned about your sexual health.