Young adults in this suburb have a high risk of STDs — but why?

Young adults in one particular Pennsylvania suburb are at an increased risk of contracting an STD. According to a state health department alert, STDs, including HIV, among 15- to 24-year-olds in Beaver County, a suburb of Pittsburgh, are alarmingly high. “In calendar year (CY) 2017 and continuing into 2018 there has been a nearly threefold increase in the number of new diagnoses of HIV disease among Beaver County residents compared to the average number of new diagnoses in the previous five years,” the alert states. But HIV isn’t the only STD on the rise in that area: “Beaver County saw a 33 percent increase in reported gonorrhea cases from 2016 to 2017, from 137 cases in 2016 to 182 cases in 2017,” the statement continues. “This increase was predominantly in 15-24 year olds, and saw concurrent increases in HIV cases as well,” a representative from the Pennsylvania Department of Health tells Yahoo Lifestyle exclusively.