Ted Rosen, MD, discusses highlights from his lecture on STDs During the Pandemic at the 2021 Elevate-Derm Conference.
In this video
Dr. Rosen notes that STDs affect about 20% of the US adult population, peaking at ages 15 to 24 — but he stresses never excluding the diagnosis based on age, citing a case of a 78-year-old with syphilis. On pandemic trends, he's candid that "we don't really know" what happened: after six years of double-digit percentile rises and continued climbing early in 2020, reported rates appeared to fall, though it's unclear whether that's real or an artifact of disrupted data collection, since only 8% of city or county STD clinics were functioning normally and 25% closed entirely.
He also addresses whether COVID can be transmitted through sexual contact, calling the evidence contradictory — some studies couldn't detect the virus in secretions including semen, while a Chinese study suggested it could be found there — which reinforces his message about protection. On a lighter note, he raises concern that widespread grooming and pubic hair removal is eliminating the habitat for pubic lice, to the point that the species could die out.
- Roughly 20% of US adults are walking around with an STD, with rates peaking at ages 15 to 24 — but never exclude the diagnosis regardless of age.
- Reported STD rates appeared to fall during the height of the pandemic, but disrupted data collection and widespread clinic closures make it unclear whether that decline is real.
- The evidence on COVID transmission through sexual secretions, including semen, is contradictory and unresolved.
- When the answer isn't clear, protection remains the consistent recommendation.
- Aggressive grooming and pubic hair removal are shrinking the habitat for pubic lice, raising the odd prospect of the species going extinct.
