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According to the Oregon Health Authority, seniors around the state are contracting sexually transmitted diseases at a steadily increasing rate, KATU-TV first reported.
OHA data shared with WW shows that Multnomah County men over 55 are diagnosed with syphilis nine times as often as teenagers. And since 2000, the number of Oregonians 50 and older with chlamydia has jumped from 36 cases to 345. In same the 17 year period, gonorrhea cases jumped from 9 to 257.
"People of all ages should remember that most people with one of these sexually transmitted infections do not experience symptoms," OHA spokesman Jonathan Modie tells WW, "and that they should seek regular screening if they are sexually active with multiple partners, or have previously been diagnosed or treated for any sexually transmitted disease."
Doctors who spoke with KATU guess that the rising popularity of online dating sites and availability of drugs like Viagra have sparked the increase in sexual activity among senior Oregonians.
And Dr. Kristen Carr of Mount Sinai Park told KATU that health practitioners aren't necessarily practiced at having sex talks with older patients.
"We forget the sexual being doesn't go away over the course of one's life," she said. "If you're over 65, you don't have to worry about getting pregnant, so a lot of people forget about the other part of it."