Opinion: How dating apps could help stop the spread of sexually transmissible infections
Sexually transmissible infections are on the rise across the United States. But it’s not just monkeypox that’s surging, and it’s not just men who have sex with men who are affected.
The meteoric rise of dating apps has led to more casual relationships, which means users feel less obliged to disclose sexually transmissible infections (STIs) to one another. This is one of several factors that has helped propel rates of these diseases skyward: gonorrhea infections are up 45% and syphilis is up 52% since 2016. Congenital syphilis cases, which can result in stillbirths and death among babies being born to women with syphilis, are up 235% since 2016.
