Common STDs in the United States
At this week's lab you will see an example of trichomonas vaginalis, a common protozoan STD. At the Tuesday lab, there was a good example of one of these organisms that was still very active with a clearly visible flagellum.
The CDC website has comprehensive data on surveillance for STDs (note that not all STDs are reportable). Among chlamydia trachomatis, neisseria gonorrhea, and syphilis, the first was the most commonly reported infection in 2007 with over 1.1. million new cases in the U.S., followed by gonhorrhea (355,000 cases) and syphilis (11,000 primary and secondary disease cases). By contrast, it's estimated that there are 8 million cases of trichomonas each year.