Don’t Believe Their Lies: STIs are Incredibly Rare Among Older Americans

Profits drive corporate media, and profits are a function of advertising revenues, so if an article draws clicks or views, corporate media is happy to publish it even if it is misleading.  While the ‘if it bleeds it leads’ motto is likely as old as journalism, such sensationalistic coverage obscure and often papers over the facts.  Such is valid with press coverage of sexually transmitted infection (STI), as rates vary considerably among demographics.  Arguably the health effects correlated with not having sex are much more significant than the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease for older people.

Standard Hyperbolic Clickbait Articles are Irresponsible Journalism

​This platform intends to inform through the presentation of facts rather than convince, and this investigation presents the case that intelligent assessment of the data is necessary to assess the risk of STI infection. Unfortunately, media reports tend to be hyperbolic by design, and such messages like to use terms like ‘epidemic’ and ‘soaring’ in blaring headlines, but the occurrence of STIs are highly dependent on age group and demographic.  Despite corporate media’s clickbait headlines, STIs are almost unknown among older American populations. Fortunately, the facts are available through the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) Atlas Plus data tool, which provided the STI data presented in this investigation.

A particular case in point is chlamydia.  Chlamydia, a foul form of crotch rot, is the most common STI, with about 1.8 million chlamydial infections in 2019, and is the most common STI in the United States.  While it is severe, as are all STIs, it’s not permanent, as antibiotics can cure it.

In 2019, the most recent year of data publication, chlamydia, occurred in only about 16,700 Americans above age 55 and only 5,368 white Americans over 55, out of a population of about 95.5 million, or in other words, a minuscule rate for both people.  About 0.02% of Americans over the age of 55 had chlamydia in 2019 or a rate of 17.5 per 100,000 population. Thus, the risk of getting chlamydia appears to be very low if one has sex with someone over the age of 55, contrary to inflammatory articles.

Even the Nominally Conservative Magazine The Economist Likes to Join the STD Party

​Gonorrhea is the second-most prevalent STI in the United States, with about 616,000 cases in 2019, but it follows similar patterns in older American populations.  In 2019, 16,333 cases occurred in Americans over age 55, with 5,801 occurring in white Americans over age 55. Thus, about 0.02% of Americans over the age of 55 had gonorrhea in 2019 or a rate of 17.1 per 100,000 population.

Syphilis follows the same patterns as chlamydia.  Once feared as a sure death from insanity before the advent of sulfa and antibiotic drugs, syphilis now enjoys popularity in some populations, but it is almost unknown in older Americans.  In 2019 there were 2,927 cases of syphilis in people over 55 and 1,571 in white Americans over 55.  Only about 0.003% of Americans over the age of 55 had syphilis in 2019 or a rate of 3.06 per 100,000 population.

Interesting facts about other hepatitis and HIV reported to the CDC in 2019:

• There were 4,136 cases of acute viral hepatitis C.
• There were 3,192 cases of acute viral hepatitis B.
• There were 36,337 HIV diagnoses.

Other risk data provides good reference context:

• In 2020 there were 33 shark attacks in the United States, and three were fatal.
• The United States averages 43 reported lightning fatalities per year, and about 430 are struck by lightning.
• Poisonous snakes bite between 7,000 and 8,000 people each year in the United States, and about 5 of those people die.
• There were about 33,000 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2019, with 36,096 deaths, resulting in 11.0 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.11 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.
• There were about 39,700 gunshot deaths in the United States, with a death rate of about 12.1 per 100,000 population.
• Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, with about 47,500 dead from suicide in 2019, or 13.0 suicides per 100,000 people, the highest rate recorded in 28 years.
• In 2019, about 70,600 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States, with a rate of overdose deaths of 21.6 per 100,000 population.

Although out of the scope of this investigation, likely the lower STI rates among older Americans are simply due to infrequent sexual activity and lower numbers of individual sexual partners.  As discussed in a previous investigation, sexual activity, particularly in older populations, is correlated with good physical and mental health, so the risks from not having sex are arguably more significant than the risks of contracting an STI.

Regardless, reports of ‘epidemic’ and ‘soaring’ STI rates among older populations are simply nonsense and are irresponsible journalism.