What STDs are Americans (and Brits) googling most?
LatestWe’ve all done it. Maybe it was after a one night stand, maybe it was after you spotted a strange discoloration on your skin—or maybe you were simply curious. But at some point in your life, you have definitely searched for sexually transmitted disease symptoms online. What you may not realize, however, is that where you live can determine whether you’ve searched for chlamydia or genital warts.
Researchers commissioned by U.K. drugstore chain Superdrug combed through Google searches and SEO data comparing the STD-related searches of the U.S. and the U.K. And man alive, there are some cultural difference between the two countries—and even within them.
For starters, while chlamydia was the top STD search across the poind, we here down in the U.S. of A. were far more concerned with herpes.
But when we dive deeper into the U.S. data, there appears to be a geographic hub for each STD search—and a loose link between google search rate and infection rate. For example, Mississippi has the most searches for Chlamydia and Louisiana is at a close second. According to the 2013 STD Surveillance by the Center for Disease Control, Louisiana had the second highest amount of reported cases of chlamydia and Mississippi had the fifth.
The two states also had the highest hits for gonorrhea—according to the CDC, Louisiana has the highest rate of reported gonorrhea cases, and Mississippi, the third highest. As for HIV, Washington D.C. saw the highest amount of HIV-related searches. And as Fusion’s very own STD map project showed, the nation’s capital has a high rate of reported HIV cases.
The most interesting (or, the most entertaining) part of the research however deals with how people search for STD transmission. It turns out that everyone is worried that you can get an STD from oral sex (yep!), kissing (yep!), and toilet seats (nope! We’ve covered this!).
You can see the rest of the data (and find out whether the Yanks or Brits are more concerned with erectile dysfunction) on Superdrug’s website.