More bad news: Gonorrhea rates are jumping again after hitting a record low, and an increasing number of cases are caused by a “superbug” version resistant to common antibiotics, federal officials said Tuesday.

Syphilis is rising, too. The rate of congenital syphilis — which can deform or kill babies — rose for the first time in 15 years.

“Hopefully we will not see this turn into a trend,” said Dr. Khalil Ghanem, an infectious diseases specialist at Johns Hopkins University’s School of medicine.

The CDC releases a report each year on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, three diseases caused by sexually transmitted bacteria.

Chlamydia is the most common. Nearly 1,031,000 cases were reported last year, up from 976,000 the year before.

The count broke the single-year record for reported cases of a sexually transmitted disease, which was 1,013,436 cases of gonorrhea, set in 1978.

Putting those numbers into rates, there were about 348 cases of chlamydia per 100,000 people in 2006, up 5.6 percent from the 329 per 100,000 rate in 2005.

CDC officials say the chlamydia record may not be all bad news: They think the higher number is largely a result of better and more intensive screening.

Since 1993, the CDC has recommended annual screening in sexually active women ages 15 to 25. Meanwhile, urine and swab tests for the bacteria are getting better and are used more often, for men as well as women, said Douglas, director of the CDC’s Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention.

About three-quarters of women infected with chlamydia have no symptoms. Left untreated, the infection can spread and ultimately can lead to infertility. It’s easily treated if caught early.

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There are many types of HPV (human papillomavirus). Some types cause cervical cancer, some cause genital warts. Not every infection results in disease, as the immune system usually fights off the virus.

That’s why the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends HPV vaccination for all girls before they become sexually active. But can HPV vaccination help HPV-infected women clear the virus?

No, shows a U.S./Costa Rica study led by Allan Hildesheim, PhD, a senior investigator at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

“We found there was no difference in the rate of HPV clearance whether or not women got the vaccine,” Hildesheim tells WebMD. “So there is no evidence this vaccine treats established infections.”

The FDA has approved Merck’s Gardasil HPV vaccine. Gardasil prevents infection from four HPV strains: two linked to cervical cancer and two linked to genital warts. Another HPV vaccine, Cervarix from GlaxoSmithKline, protects against the same two cancer-linked HPV strains. Cervarix is approved in Australia; U.S. approval is expected next year.

While the Hildesheim study is testing Cervarix, Hildesheim says Gardasil studies have also shown that the vaccine cannot speed viral clearance in women who already have HPV infection.

Future Vaccine Benefit for HPV-Infected Women?

It is not yet known whether vaccination of already-infected women can prevent future HPV infections.

Viral clearance means that researchers can no longer detect viral DNA in a person’s blood. It may not mean that the virus is completely eliminated from the body, says William Bonnez, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester, N.Y. Bonnez, one of the inventors of HPV vaccines, receives royalties from both GlaxoSmithKline and Merck. He was not involved in the Hildesheim study.

“HPV vaccination does not affect present HPV infection, but it may prevent future HPV infections and diseases, regardless of what the present [infection] status is,” Bonnez tells WebMD. “In other words, you do not vaccinate for the present, but you do it for the future.”

Bonnez says there is evidence — not proof — that HPV vaccines can prevent future HPV disease in women who have cleared their HPV infections but who still have anti-HPV antibodies in their blood.

Hildesheim says such women may not need vaccination at all.

“Probably a woman who clears infection by herself will be protected from new infection,” he says. “They have proven they can clear the infection without need of a vaccine. So vaccinating these women may not be warranted. But there is not data to prove or disprove this.”

Regardless of whether this is the case, both Hildesheim and Bonnez stress that HPV vaccination is far more effective if given to girls before they become sexually active women.

“This study reinforces the notion that the HPV vaccine should really target women prior to sexual debut,” Hildesheim says. “We know infection happens shortly after sexual initiation. So to vaccinate young women before they initiate sexual activity is the best policy.”

“The biggest bang for the buck is before initiation of sexual activity,” says Bonnez. “That is when the vaccine provides the greatest benefit.”

The Hildesheim study appears in the Aug. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against the human papillomavirus, known as HPV. It was approved by the federal government in 2006.

At least 41 states have introduced legislation that would require the vaccine for girls or would fund vaccinations or education programs, said the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communications, which conducted the survey.

Texas received national attention this year when it required schoolgirls to get vaccinations.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell has said he wants to evaluate the drug’s effectiveness, safety and public acceptance before deciding if it should be required.

Nearly half of the participants in the Annenberg survey opposed mandatory vaccinations. About 16 percent supported it, and about 35 percent were neutral.

A majority of respondents supported the concept of doctors recommending the vaccine to eligible people, that the government should pay for the vaccine for people with no insurance, and that health insurers should be required to cover vaccinations.

HPV, which is spread through sexual contact, is considered the main cause of cervical cancer, which about strikes about 10,000 women annually in the U.S.

A panel of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccine for girls who are 11 and 12 and catch-up vaccinations for women up to age 26.

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