CDC: Year’s Challenges Include ‘Steep and Sustained Increases’ in STDs, Opioid Deaths

The most pressing health threats for Americans in 2018 included “steep and sustained increases in sexually transmitted diseases” and declining overall life expectancy blamed in large part on the opioid crisis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s year-end roundup also noted that since August the agency has been coordinating with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Ministry of Health as the second-largest ebola outbreak in history sweeps through the region.

The World Health Organization reported last week that battling the ebola outbreak in the DRC “continues to be a complex challenge” as “pockets of community reluctance and the conflict setting continue to obstruct activities in some affected areas.” . . .

CDC also responded to several foodborne illness outbreaks over the year, including E. coli contamination of romaine lettuce that led to nationwide recalls, and formed a task force in November to respond to a marked increase in cases of acute flaccid myelitis — a rare but serious nervous system condition that develops mostly in children after a mild viral infection.

The agency also noted a record-breaking increase in reports of sexually transmitted diseases, including nearly 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. STDs increased for the fourth year in a row, the CDC reported in August, including gonorrhea nearly doubling among men. (Read more from “CDC: Year’s Challenges Include ‘Steep and Sustained Increases’ in STDs, Opioid Deaths” HERE)

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