More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year — the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said Tuesday. “A new U.S. record,” said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr. of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More bad news: 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, federal officials said Tuesday.

Syphilis is rising, too. The rate of congenital syphilis — which can deform or kill babies — rose for the first time in 15 years.

“Hopefully we will not see this turn into a trend,” said Dr. Khalil Ghanem, an infectious diseases specialist at Johns Hopkins University’s School of medicine.

The CDC releases a report each year on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, three diseases caused by sexually transmitted bacteria.

Chlamydia is the most common. Nearly 1,031,000 cases were reported last year, up from 976,000 the year before.

The count broke the single-year record for reported cases of a sexually transmitted disease, which was 1,013,436 cases of gonorrhea, set in 1978.

Putting those numbers into rates, there were about 348 cases of chlamydia per 100,000 people in 2006, up 5.6 percent from the 329 per 100,000 rate in 2005.

CDC officials say the chlamydia record may not be all bad news: They think the higher number is largely a result of better and more intensive screening.

Since 1993, the CDC has recommended annual screening in sexually active women ages 15 to 25. Meanwhile, urine and swab tests for the bacteria are getting better and are used more often, for men as well as women, said Douglas, director of the CDC’s Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention.

About three-quarters of women infected with chlamydia have no symptoms. Left untreated, the infection can spread and ultimately can lead to infertility. It’s easily treated if caught early.

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Doctors are dealing with an horrific side affect of abuse - more children with sexually transmitted diseases.

Instances of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, pelvic inflammatory disease and genital warts are all increasing and doctors blame child abuse.

The children have contracted diseases as a result of sexual abuse, often at the hands of relations or care givers.

Doctors say the statistics show nearly 7 percent of abused children get a sexually transmitted disease, and since many abuse cases go unreported, they suspect the true figures are much worse.

In Auckland between 1991 and 2002 14 cases of gonorrhoea were confirmed in young children, and in the 20 cases of chlamydia, four patients were five or six-year-old girls. An eight-year-old girl had both.

“People think these are low figures but we need to realise only one in six children who present with suspected sexual abuse actually gets a medical examination,” Te Puaruruhau child abuse unit clinical director Patrick Kelly says.

A paediatrician, he says silence allows the problem to be ignored.

Dr Kelly’s Grafton Rd unit brings police, the hospital and Child, Youth and Family together.

He says in 13 of the 14 gonorrhoea cases the children had not been taken to the doctor for sexual abuse, but instead for genital symptoms, and the disease was picked up on a routine swab.

“There are no numbers yet to support our belief that significantly more cases could exist. But we all know the majority of sexual abuse cases are not even disclosed.

“When a child is found to have a sexual disease the repercussions for the family are enermous, especially if no one owns up,” he says.

“The effect is felt by the whole family because they are all investigated.”

Dr Kelly says there are sometimes lifelong consequences for abused children.

Another problem was people’s belief that the medical examination of a child was traumatic.

However, specialists dealing with children were well-trained and the examination was brief and non-invasive.

“We approach children as a whole person, not just as a victim of abuse,” he says.

Often other health issues were also found because abused children rarely saw a doctor.

Statistics show 17 percent of girls and 4 percent of boys have been sexually abused by the time they are 16, and for 6 percent of girls that includes rape.

Between 1991 and 1998 three-year-old girls were most often referred for suspected sexual abuse, followed by two and four-year-old girls. The next most vulnerable age was 11 and then 14-year-old girls.

Dr Kelly says physical symptoms in children can be shortlived or trivial, but nearly always show in some way.

“While it simply may not occur to most people to consider sexual diseases when dealing with children, in the climate of child abuse we have here, it certainly should.”

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