2016 STD Prevention Conference

Sept. 22, 2016 – 2016 STD Prevention Conference

Sept. 21, 2016 – More than 1,200 researchers, public health experts, clinicians, and advocates convened in Atlanta for the 2016 STD Prevention Conference, “Transcending Barriers, Creating Opportunities,” held September 20-23, 2016. The 2016 STD Prevention Conference will focus on identifying and transforming barriers into prevention opportunities.

According to new CDC research presented at the conference, we now have data that reinforces that sexually active gay and bisexual men are at high risk for syphilis – and that syphilis affects gay and bisexual men in some parts of the country more than others.

Earlier, the official press briefing of the conference featured new research on the first cluster of gonorrhea cases in the U.S. to show decreased susceptibility to both azithromycin and ceftriaxone. Ceftriaxone and azithromycin are the two drugs that make up the dual regimen that is the last available effective gonorrhea treatment option. Researchers also discussed the promising results of an experimental oral antibiotic that is currently being tested in a clinical study.

Resources

Graphic: First-ever state-level syphilis rates among gay and bisexual men

The following graphic summarizes data presented at the 2016 STD Prevention Conference for the session titled Rates of Primary and Secondary Syphilis by State Among Men Who Have Sex With Men — United States, 2015 (Alex de Voux, CDC, Oral presentation). This high-resolution, public domain image is ready to download and print in your publication. Click on a graphic to see it in high-resolution.
These images are in the public domain and are thus free of any copyright restrictions. As a matter of courtesy, we ask that the content provider be credited and notified of any public or private usage of an image.

Primary and secondary syphilis rates among MSM by U.S. State – 44 states, 2015

This graphic shows rates of primary and secondary syphilis infection among MSM in 44 states and was developed using preliminary 2015 national syphilis case report data and 2014 population estimates of the number of adult MSM by state. Researchers developed rates for the 44 states that reported the sex of partners for at least 70 percent of the men diagnosed with P&S syphilis in 2015. Estimates of syphilis rates among MSM vary from 73.1 per 100,000 in Alaska to 748.3 in North Carolina.

View High Resolution Version
The state-level data found that syphilis disproportionately affects gay and bisexual men in the South and the West.

Page last reviewed: September 22, 2016