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Article: Risky sex breeds neglected epidemic. (Institute of Medicine study indicates US has highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases among all developed nations)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- November 30, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The United States has a secret, and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) wants to rouse the nation to do something about it. In a report called "The Hidden Epidemic," IOM says that the United States has failed to respond adequately to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), even though it has the highest rates of infection in the developed world.
Twelve million people in the United States, one-fourth of them adolescents, get STDs each year, according to the report. Several studies show that U.S. rates of infection are 50 to 100 times those of other developed nations, IOM states. For example, 150 of every 100,000 people in the United States have gonorrhea, compared to 3 per ...