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Why SNL's Pete Davidson is Wrong About STDs

The SNL star told viewers of "Weekend Update" that sexually transmitted diseases are "all things you can cure with a shot." That's not necessarily true.

Even though "Saturday Night Live" cast member Pete Davidson joked that he may look like he has a few sexually transmitted diseases, he's no STD expert.

On the show's "Weekend Update" this past Saturday, Davidson delivered a monologue based on a real-life report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed rising rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in the U.S.

"I don’t see the problem," Davidson said. "These are all things you can cure with a shot."

While it's true that antibiotics can cure chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis infections, some strains of gonorrhea in particular are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and are more difficult than ever to treat.

According to the World Health Organization, two-thirds of the world's countries have reported gonorrhea cases that resist all known antibiotics.

"If we lose these antibiotics because people are repeatedly getting them after repeated exposures to gonorrhea, then we’re not going to be treating it with one shot, we’re going to be treating it with multiple shots or with multiple drugs," said Dr. Michael Angarone, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine.

Sometimes these infections do not cause symptoms, and go undetected.

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