By Melinda Young
A new report from the Military Health System shows a disturbing trend of increasing rates of syphilis among people serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.1
The findings show a decrease in bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) since 2020, except for syphilis, which increased by 98% from 2015 to 2023.1 STIs — second to COVID-19 infection — posed one of the greatest healthcare burdens from infectious diseases to service members in 2022, the report says.1
The new data show that total case rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea rose an average of 6% to 10% per year until 2019 but have steadily declined since then. For 2023, chlamydia rates dropped by nearly 40%, and gonorrhea rates had fallen by more than 40% for female service members and 19% for male service members.1
But syphilis rates increased about 10% annually from 2015 to 2019, declined in 2020, and then continued their upward trajectory from 2021 to 2023. The 2023 syphilis rates are about double the rate of syphilis in 2015.1
The rates of STIs among U.S. Armed Forces members are higher than reported STI rates in the general population, likely as a result of the military’s mandatory STI screening and more complete reporting, the paper says.1
REFERENCE
- Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division. Sexually transmitted infections among active component members of the U.S. Armed Forces, 2015-2023. MSMR 2024;31:34-42.
