The STI field played a starring role in the news media in 2022. While the news year started early with stories about test tube shortages and spiking congenital syphilis rates, the nation’s monkeypox (mpox) outbreak created an unprecedented opportunity to highlight the role the STI field plays in the nation’s health.

NCSD was proud to elevate the voices of clinicians and program staff, highlight data, advocate for important change, and shape stories that help people understand the epidemic of STIs in America. Added together, news stories featuring NCSD’s perspective landed in front of readers more than 21.5 billion times this year. That’s pretty mindblowing!

In our work to share stories from the field, we hosted two virtual press conferences (here and here), wrote pivotal op-eds in STAT and The Hill, and distributed dozens of statements and press releases.

Here were our top 10 stories this year, by reach:

1. NY Times: As Monkeypox Spreads, U.S. Plans a Vaccination Campaign by Apoorva Mandavilli 
2. NY Times: The U.S. May Be Losing the Fight Against Monkeypox, Scientists Say by Apoorva Mandavilli 
3. CNN:Some lab techs refuse to take blood from possible monkeypox patients, raising concerns about stigma and testing delays by Elizabeth Cohen
4. CNN: Monkeypox outbreak slowing in the US, but health leaders say critical challenges remain by Deidre McPhillips 
5. Washington Post: Men are using condoms less, even as syphilis and other STDs surge by Fenit Nirappil 
6. USA Today: Even in the first year of the pandemic, STD rates continued to climb in the US, CDC says by Jordan Mendoza 
7. Politico: STDs are surging. The funding to fight them is not by Alice Miranda Ollstien 
8. Kaiser Health News: Babies die as congenital syphilis continues a decade-long surge by Anna Maria Barry-Jester 
9. AP: ‘Out of control’ STD situation prompts call for changes by Mike Stobbe 
10. Insider: 7 people have died amid ‘one of the worst meningococcal outbreaks’ in US history. The CDC is urging people to get vaccinated. By Hilary Brueck and Catherine Schuster-Bruce

As we close out 2022, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the STI professionals who shared their stories; the individual influencers who raised awareness; the journalists who covered our field with curiosity, sensitivity, and attention to equity; and our collaborators at SKDK who helped us increase our impact.

The nation’s STI epidemic has not abated. Neither have we. We look forward to highlighting the data, stories, people, and issues central to the STI field in 2023.