(AgapePress) - The sexual revolution was supposed to provide Americans plenty of free sex at no personal cost, but evidence continues to pour in that, while there may be plenty of sex, it's not without cost.

In fact, the personal cost is staggering. According to USA Today, recent data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) account for four of the five most commonly reported infectious diseases.

In 2002, chlamydia (834,555 cases), gonorrhea (351,852), AIDS (42,745) and non-congenital syphilis (32,459) held four of the top spots, with salmonellosis (44,264), a bacterial infection which is often transmitted from food, sandwiched in the middle.

The CDC noted that the report on STDs was limited in scope, because the data was obtained only from the federally-funded control programs for chlamydia, gonorrhea, AIDS and syphilis. "These data represent only a small proportion of the overall toll of STDs," the report said.

Many STDs, including common viral infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes, were not included in the data. Other CDC documents show that the prevalence of HPV (20 million current cases) and herpes (45 million) dwarf the four STDs in its report.

According to the CDC website, "Sexually transmitted diseases continue to be a major health threat in the United States. CDC estimates that 19 million STD infections occur annually, almost half of them among youth ages 15 to 24. In addition to potentially severe health consequences, STDs pose a tremendous economic burden, with direct medical costs as high as $15.5 billion in a single year."

This article appeared in the February 2005 issue of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.

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