What’s New

STI Treatment (Tx) Guide Mobile App: The new app is more comprehensive, more integrated, and includes more features to help with patient care. (September 19, 2022)

Preliminary 2021 STD Surveillance Data (September 1, 2022)

• Social Media & More: Messages, graphics, and other materials to help you engage with your community

Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Surveillance, 2020 (April 12, 2022)

• Announcement: CDC’s STD Director on the release of national STD trends in the U.S.
• Press Release: New data suggest STDs in the U.S. continued to increase during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Social Media & More: Messages and graphics to help you promote 2020 STD surveillance data.

STD Awareness Week (April 10-16, 2022)

• STD Awareness Week Campaign Toolkit:  Ideas on planning activities for the observance
• Each campaign offers a variety of premade social media graphics and customizable messages
  • NEW! Prepare Before You’re There: Encourages people to make a prevention “game plan” before they’re in the “heat of the moment”
  • GYT: Get Yourself Tested:  Encourages young people to get tested for STDs and HIV
  • Talk | Test | Treat:  Encourages people and healthcare providers to take these three actions

How the COVID-19 Pandemic has Impacted Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Programs (January 31, 2022)

STD Prevention and Control in 2021: A Year in Review

• Dear Colleague Letter: Dr. Leandro Mena, MD, MPH, Division of STD Prevention Director, on STD prevention and control accomplishments in 2021 and upcoming events and resources for 2022.

FDA Alert: Possible False RPR Reactivity with Syphilis Test

• Dear Colleague Letter: A note from Dr. Leandro Mena, Director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention on FDA’s recent alert about the Bio-Rad Laboratories BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR kit. (December 20, 2021)
  • UPDATE: 03/24/2022: Lab Alert: BioRad Recalls RPR Portion of the BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR Test Kit

The First Friday of October is National Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) Recognition Day 

• Dear Colleague Letter: A special thanks from Dr. Jonathan Mermin, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Director, and Dr. Leandro Mena, Division of STD Prevention Director

Historic Five‐Year Investment for Disease Intervention Specialists Workforce

• Dear Colleague Letter: CDC’s Division of STD Prevention distributes $200 million to health departments for the first year of the CDC Disease Intervention Specialists Workforce Development Supplement. (September 24, 2021)

Congenital Syphilis Diagnosed Beyond the Neonatal Period in the United States: 2014-2018: New study finds 67 symptomatic infants were diagnosed with congenital syphilis beyond the neonatal period (>28 days) during this time. (August 31, 2021)

• Video abstract

Dr. Leandro Mena is the new Director for the Division of STD Prevention

• Dear Colleague Letter: Dr. Leandro Mena, MD, MPH, Division of STD Prevention Director, on the future of STI prevention and joining CDC. (August 2, 2021)

Dear Colleague Letter from the Division of STD Prevention: CDC Awards $11.1 Million for HIV Prevention Services in STD Clinics.

• Dear Colleague Letter from the Division of HIV Prevention: Advancing the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative in the U.S. with a $117 Million Investment.

2021 STI Treatment Guidelines (July 22, 2021)

• Dear Colleague Letter: Raul Romaguera, DMD, MPH, Acting Director for DSTDP, on CDC’s publication of the 2021 STI Treatment Guidelines, including notable screening and treatment updates.
• Provider Resources: Access print-friendly version of the wall chart, pocket guide, and guidelines.
• Recommendations for Providing Quality STD Clinical Services (STD QCS): Guidelines companion with recommendations and tools to help healthcare settings improve STD care services.

CDC invests more than $7M to help states address urgent STI priorities (July 13, 2021)

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Funding to Hire and Train Public Health Workers

• Dear Colleague Letter: White House announces $1.13 billion investment to strengthen the disease intervention specialists workforce. (May 13, 2021)

Sexually Transmitted Infections Prevalence, Incidence, and Cost Estimates in the United States (January 25, 2021)

• At A Glance: STI Prevalence, Incidence, and Cost Estimates in the United States
• Social Media Materials: Messages and Graphics to Help Spread the Word
• Dear Colleague Letter: Announcement about Updated STI Prevalence, Incidence, and Cost Estimates
• Press release: CDC Estimates 1 in 5 People in the U.S. Have a Sexually Transmitted Infection

Sexually Transmitted Infections National Strategic Plan for the United States: 2021-2025

• Dear Colleague Letter: HHS launches nation’s first-ever plan of its kind for STIs. (December 18, 2020)

STD Care and Prevention Guidance During Disruption of Clinical Services

• Dear Colleague Letter: Shortage of STI Diagnostic Kits and Supplies (September 8, 2020)
• Dear Colleague Letter: Providing effective care and prevention when facility-based services and in-person patient-clinician contact is limited. (April 6, 2020)
  • • Update: STD Treatment Options (May 13, 2020)

The Toolkit for Technology-based Partner Services has been updated! You will find new examples from the field, as well as information about how to conduct partner services using text messages and geolocating mobile apps.

• IPS Toolkit
• Dear Colleague Letter  from Dr. Gail Bolan, Director, Division of STD Prevention

New case stories are available for phase two of CDC’s Community Approaches to Reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases (CARS). Learn how each funding recipient used community engagement to address health disparities and increase STD prevention. (June 8, 2020)

• Baltimore
• Chicago
• Michigan
• Philadelphia

New analysis finds 1 in 2 newborn syphilis cases occur due to gaps in testing and treatment during prenatal care. (June 4, 2020)

• Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): Missed Opportunities for Prevention of Congenital Syphilis – United States, 2018
• Dear Colleague Letter: from Dr. Gail Bolan, Director, Division of STD Prevention

Recommendations for Providing Quality STD Clinical Services (STD QCS):  New CDC report highlights services healthcare settings can offer to provide the highest-quality STD care for their patients. (January 6, 2020)

• Dear Colleague Letter: Dr. Gail Bolan, Division of STD Prevention Director, on how STD QCS can help guide clinical operations in healthcare settings to optimize STD care services.
• Graphic:  explaining how STD QCS and the STI Treatment Guidelines can work together to optimize care.

New CDC analysis suggests gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are at increased risk for extragenital STDs [i.e., chlamydia or gonorrhea in the throat or rectum] (April 11, 2019)

• Extragenital Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Among Community Venue–Attending Men Who Have Sex with Men — Five Cities, United States, 2017

Medscape Commentary: Dr. Laura H. Bachmann, MD, MPH, on the surge in congenital syphilis and what healthcare providers can do to stop it (January 23, 2019)