XPost: alabama.general, alt.activism.death-penalty, alt.alien.visitors   
   XPost: alt.connecticut   
   From: score@att.net   
      
   Another Democrat run city achieves a number 1 ranking.   
      
   Did we mention that Ferguson is part of St Louis?  No?  Well it   
   is.   
      
   St. Louis is No. 1 in the nation in the rate of chlamydia   
   infections, according to the annual report on sexually   
   transmitted diseases issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease   
   Control and Prevention.   
      
   The city is No. 2 in the rate of gonorrhea infections, according   
   to the CDC 2013 Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance issued   
   this week.   
      
   “We’ve been consistently in the top five for 10 years,” said Dr.   
   Bradley Stoner, who directs STD prevention training at   
   Washington University and is past president of the American STD   
   Association.   
      
   “The inability to bring our numbers down and crack that ranking   
   is distressing.   
      
   “A lot of it has to do with people don’t know they’re infected   
   and don’t seek care, and we don’t have that many access points   
   for care. The closure of ConnectCare reduced people’s ability to   
   seek STD services. People are going to health centers and   
   emergency rooms, but there’s no coordinated effort.”   
      
   ConnectCare, a health care facility in St. Louis for people who   
   couldn’t afford medical insurance, was the primary testing and   
   treatment center for STDs before it closed? late last year.   
      
   But Dr. Katie Plax, medical director of Supporting Positive   
   Opportunities with Teens, said increased testing is why St.   
   Louis’ ranking jumped.   
      
   She said she expects the numbers to drop soon.   
      
   “There’s been a big push in the St. Louis community to test more   
   people. First you’re going to see an increase in the prevalence   
   that you identify, and with effective treatment and getting   
   folks identified we should then see a decrease.”   
      
   The group gets an equal number of clients from St. Louis and St.   
   Louis County, she said.   
      
   Target clients are 13 to 24 years old who may come in because   
   they are showing symptoms or they are starting new relationships.   
      
   Still, Stoker said, the region needs a city-county effort to   
   address the STD numbers. “These (diseases) don’t know   
   boundaries,” Stoker said.   
      
   The federal report said STD numbers are dropping or flattening   
   across the nation. The same issues in battling STDs remain the   
   same, the CDC says: education and access to medical care.   
      
   Despite the rankings, the number of local cases in 2013 were   
   fewer than in 2012, which had 9,000 new chlamydia cases and   
   nearly 4,000 new gonorrhea cases.   
      
   http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-city-ranks-   
   first-in-chlamydia-infection-rate-nationwide/article_bca5c137-   
   1a31-50f1-ae47-487e29f83b52.html   
      
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)