MISSOULA — Health officials say cases of sexually transmitted diseases have increased in Montana.
The Missoulian reports Dr. Chris Baumert, a family physician at RiverStone Health in Billings, says “It’s really shot up in terms of syphilis and gonorrhea cases in Montana, as well as chlamydia.”
In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled the threat of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea “one of the nation’s most urgent public health threats.”
The rate of gonorrhea cases in the United States has increased 75.2 percent since the historic low in 2009. Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services notes that gonorrhea cases appear to be on the rise again this year. The state projects Montana will have more than 1,000 cases this year, compared to 867 in 2017.