STDs
According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the City ranks high among US cities in the rate of infection for such sexually transmitted diseases as HIV, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea.
Who has them? The City’s Health Department recently sent over some sobering statistics: approximately 31 percent of all STD cases are among teenagers, 12 to 18 years old. And 90 percent of STD cases (in which race is known) are African Americans.
That data is important because there are no cures or vaccines for HIV or AIDS, and because many STDS cause irreversible health problems. Knowing who is most likely to be infected and when, helps City health officials focus their efforts in the right places to save lives and improve health outcomes on prevention programs.
Really? When a group of more than 60 “residents” at the city’s juvenile lockup, who fit into those “sobering statistics” of those most at risk, allowed themselves to be tested, not one of them was positive for HIV/AIDS. The article didn’t say if any (or how many) tested positive for other STDs, but if it was high, I imagine the article would have said how many.
How does that work? And how much money does the St. Louis City Health Department get because we all so think that STD infection rates are as high as they want us to think?
