On March 12, federal health officials announced that many cases of sexually transmitted disease are not being detected in gay men because of a lack of testing, and the failure of many doctors and clinics to follow screening recommendations, The New York Times reports (nytimes.com, 3/13).

Researchers from the CDC provided evidence from three studies that show that screening rates among gay men are too low. One study, for example, found that more than a third of rectal infections with gonorrhea, and more than a quarter of throat infections, were missed because of a lack of testing.

According to Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, the sexually transmitted infections gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis are all “major threat[s] to gay and bisexual men’s health,” the Times reports, adding that these infections increase the risk of contracting HIV.