irene stafford works at ut health houston.et's talk about why sti's in general are on the rise. >> thank you for having me. th rise in sti's in this country is multifactorial. part of it is incsistent screening patterns, especially with people in special risk groups. unfortunately our emphasis should be placed on offering and encouraging routine screening for sti in every health encounter. sexual health in general really seems to be underemphasized due to a lack of screening and other significant issues such as access to care, funding, lack of available clinics. all of this contributes to the rising rates. >> how about connital syphilis in particular? is that part of the overall increase? >> there has been over 30% increase in all cases of syphilis infection. particularly perinatal syphilis where a mother can pass it to her baby. we have seen over 30% increase in cases inhe last several years. >> things were going so well. how did things go so wrong? >> i believe partially we are not being vigilant about screening and treating