(Online Dating Industry Journal) As more and more people hook up from meeting online, federal health officials are warning that the US is breaking records when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases. An article by AP's health division spells it out clearly:
"More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year—the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease...
Gonorrhea rates are jumping again after hitting a record low, and an increasing number of cases are caused by a "superbug" version resistant to common antibiotics.
Syphilis is rising, too. The rate of congenital syphilis —which can deform or kill babies—rose for the first time in 15 years..."
Click here to read the entire article. Joe's Comments Online Dating Magazine tackles this subject regularly. I wrote an editorial in January 2004 titled "STDs a Serious Issue in the Online Dating World" and we also have an STD Information Center for our readers. The simple fact is that this is a subject that needs to be addressed. If you ignore the problem, you become part of it. With some services bragging about how many of their members have sex on the first date, the issue of consequences is getting pushed into the background. Let's be part of the solution.
I wish I could say I was surprised by this, but I'm not. One of the biggest weaknesses of online dating services is they consider a frank discussion about STDs as being taboo. Yet educating online daters about STD risks is of vital importance. Why people like to ignore the subject is beyond me.
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