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ST. LOUIS,MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
April is Sexually Transmitted Diseases Awareness Month. In the U.S. alone there are 19 million new cases of STDs each year, according to the American Social Health Association. Half of the new cases are among those between the ages of 15-24.
St. Louis recently found out that it ranks first in two sexually transmitted diseases (STD'S): Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.
The new numbers from the Centers for Disease Control can be deceiving. They show overall St. Louis is number 20 in Gonorrhea, 50th in Chlamydia. Cook County, Illinois, ( Chicago) for example, has about 25,000 more cases of Chlamydia reported for 2007, than St. Louis. Still, there is no denying, per 100,000 residents, St. Louis is tops in Chlamydia and Gonorrhea for the second straight year.
"So yeah, it's embarrassing to tell people, you know, 'yeah, my city's number one for STD's, alright'," said Lourdes Carreras, an Infectious Disease Worker and Educator.
But she hardly took the news lightly.
HIV positive, she said she'd devoted her life to educating people about sexually transmitted diseases; once sitting on the state AIDS council for then governor Carnahan. She said St. Louis had regressed in the battle against STD's; especially when it came to education.
"Because it's a hush-hush thing, 'it don't happen in my house' it's the gift that keeps on giving it's something you can't hide anymore."
Though the overall number of reported cases of Gonorrhea have dropped here the past 15 years, the number of cases of Chlamydia were up during the same period.
"The most unacceptable piece of this picture is that 60% of our Gonorrhea and Chlamydia cases are in the age group of 12-24," said Pam Walker, St. Louis City Public Health Director
'We need to start at the bottom and we need to start quick; not only at the 9th grade, we have to hit the 5th grade, with just enough that they can understand," Carreras said.
New, cooperative efforts like "THE SPOT", a clinic for young people offering STD testing and counseling seem to be helping; along with the health department's education programs at city schools; the overall number of Gonorrhea cases show a one-year drop of 302 - with Chlamydia down 260.
"It's a responsibility of parenting like it is when you tell them to 'wear a seatbelt, and don't smoke cigarettes and don't drink and drive'. You shouldn't make it any more complicated than that. If you make it a bigger deal than that they'll turn you off and they won't listen," Walker said. "Chlamydia creates infertility in women. I don't want to have to explain to the next generation of children why they can't have children. that we knew Chlamydia was out there and we didn't do anything about it."
Both Gonorrhea and Chlamydia are curable; but both can go un-detected. So education and testing can be critical to keeping from St. Louis from being number 1 for three years in a row.
St. Louis recently found out that it ranks first in two sexually transmitted diseases (STD'S): Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.
The new numbers from the Centers for Disease Control can be deceiving. They show overall St. Louis is number 20 in Gonorrhea, 50th in Chlamydia. Cook County, Illinois, ( Chicago) for example, has about 25,000 more cases of Chlamydia reported for 2007, than St. Louis. Still, there is no denying, per 100,000 residents, St. Louis is tops in Chlamydia and Gonorrhea for the second straight year.
"So yeah, it's embarrassing to tell people, you know, 'yeah, my city's number one for STD's, alright'," said Lourdes Carreras, an Infectious Disease Worker and Educator.
But she hardly took the news lightly.
HIV positive, she said she'd devoted her life to educating people about sexually transmitted diseases; once sitting on the state AIDS council for then governor Carnahan. She said St. Louis had regressed in the battle against STD's; especially when it came to education.
"Because it's a hush-hush thing, 'it don't happen in my house' it's the gift that keeps on giving it's something you can't hide anymore."
Though the overall number of reported cases of Gonorrhea have dropped here the past 15 years, the number of cases of Chlamydia were up during the same period.
"The most unacceptable piece of this picture is that 60% of our Gonorrhea and Chlamydia cases are in the age group of 12-24," said Pam Walker, St. Louis City Public Health Director
'We need to start at the bottom and we need to start quick; not only at the 9th grade, we have to hit the 5th grade, with just enough that they can understand," Carreras said.
New, cooperative efforts like "THE SPOT", a clinic for young people offering STD testing and counseling seem to be helping; along with the health department's education programs at city schools; the overall number of Gonorrhea cases show a one-year drop of 302 - with Chlamydia down 260.
"It's a responsibility of parenting like it is when you tell them to 'wear a seatbelt, and don't smoke cigarettes and don't drink and drive'. You shouldn't make it any more complicated than that. If you make it a bigger deal than that they'll turn you off and they won't listen," Walker said. "Chlamydia creates infertility in women. I don't want to have to explain to the next generation of children why they can't have children. that we knew Chlamydia was out there and we didn't do anything about it."
Both Gonorrhea and Chlamydia are curable; but both can go un-detected. So education and testing can be critical to keeping from St. Louis from being number 1 for three years in a row.
