Boys, if you’re planning on traveling to New Orleans for Mardi Gras this month, be smart about it.
According to recently released figures from the Centers for Disease Control, Louisiana has the second highest rate of STDs in the nation, with fifty percent of new infections occurring between the ages of 15-24.
In fact, the South is leading the nation in new cases sexually transmitted diseases, according to the report, which is based on 2013 numbers. Eight of the 11 states with the highest rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were located in the Southeast. (The CDC didn’t include new stats for HIV/AIDS.) Researchers believe bans on comprehensive sex education plus lack of funding for STD testing are fueling the southern dominance of new infections.
Close to 20 million new infections are reported in the U.S. every year. But that’s only a tiny fraction of existing cases. The actual number is probably closer to 110 million. Many people (90 million to be precise) either don’t realize they’re infected or don’t seek medical help.
How about we take this to the next level?
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“STDs are hidden epidemics of enormous health and economic consequence in the United States,” the CDC stated. “They are hidden because many Americans are reluctant to address sexual health issues in an open way and because of the biologic and social characteristics of these diseases.”
In 2013, there were 1,401,906 reported cases of chlamydia. Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Alabama lead the nation with the most new infections.
There were also 333,004 reported cases of gonorrhea, with Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina leading the charge.
And there were 17,375 reported cases of syphilis, with Louisiana, Maryland, Georgia, Illinois, and Florida reporting the most new cases.
The CDC also noted an increase in syphilis among gay and bisexual men.
“If you are a sexually active man who is gay, bisexual, or has sex with men, you should request tests for syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV at least once a year,” the CDC recommended. “More frequent STD testing is recommended if you are a pregnant woman, you should request for men at high risk.”
So what’s the deal?
Some speculate it may have to do with higher rates of poverty and lower levels of education.
According to the National Coalition of STD Directors, in Louisiana, almost 18 percent of people were living below the poverty line in 2011. The same year, Louisiana also ranked as the unhealthiest state in the country.
On top of that, Louisiana doesn’t require sex ed be taught in schools. If a local school district decides to teach it, the law mandates that educators promote abstinence over contraceptives.
Because everyone knows that works.
Related stories:
STUDY: Cheaters More Likely To Get STDs Than Couples In Open Relationships
Mark
How’s that abstinence only education working out for you, ya dimwits?
ted72
@Mark: LOL
Ladbrook
“…in Louisiana, almost 18 percent of people were living below the poverty line in 2011. The same year, Louisiana also ranked as the unhealthiest state in the country.”
______________________________________________________________________________
If the media is doing its job, this sad fact should put a lid on Jindal’s presidential aspirations.
Cam
What a shock an area of the country run by a bunch of ignorant hyperbolic anti-education folks who applaud ignorance as if it’s something to be proud of, has the highest rates of easily preventable disease, oh and lets not for get unintended pregnancy either.
If you keep your kids stupid, then they are trapped, ignorant, and will believe anything you tell them.
tdx3fan
@Cam: Sure be nice too critisize dall dem Obummers welfare queens. Glad we aint got nun of dem down here.
*Ignores own back yard!
polarisfashion
Next time the South tries to secede from the union, I say let them go!
bobmister250
@Cam: Sad but true.
@tdx3fan: Seriously? How is Obama relevant to anything on here? And when was welfare mentioned?
Mack
All of them red states with little or no education or healthcare.
jwtraveler
@Mark: Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I’d add that the guardians of family values and sexuality morality are doing a bang up job.
Bobby “I wanna be a good ol’ white boy” Jindal must be very proud.
Cam
@tdx3fan:
And thank you for proving my point.
robho3
Just another reason to never go there
Kathukid
It could have a lot to do with the fact that those states have high numbers of uninsured due to Republican resistance to Obamacare.
john.k
As an outsider looking in it has always appeared to me that the US is a mass of contradictions. So far as I am aware the most religious states have the highest rates of divorce and children born out of wedlock. And those conservative states most opposed to the Federal Government receive the most funds from it.
jwtraveler
@john.k: You think that the U.S. is the only country full of hypocrites? Look at France. It’s one hot mess of leftist intellectualism, right-wing nationalism, anti-Semitism, anti-immigrant nationalism, racism, sexual freedom and homophobia.
woodin
The most notable and remarkable omission in this article is the prevalence and uptick in std’s in states that can best self described as the heartland of christian values, lifestyle and identity and politics. Yet in the societal scheme of things these very states are the underbelly of our country when peeling back their scripted definition of reality.
Isn’t karma, particularly a very public display of it, a swift kick in their holier then thou ass. Do as I say but not as I do only goes so far before the veneer cracks.
Sad facts and a wake up call to state religious and politician officials. The national gravy train will eventually run out, just like natural resources.
Most religious: Mississippi, Utah, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma.
Most dependent on federal aid: Mississippi, New Mexico, Alabama, Louisianan, Maine, Montana, Tennessee, West Virgina, North Dakota, Arizona.
Least Educated: West Virgina, Mississippi, Arkansan, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Nevada, Indiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma.
The poorest: Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virgina, Louisiana, Montana, South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, North Carolina.
Google it!
Bob LaBlah
I have said before and say again that HIV is a man made disease that a cure will never be allowed because of the amount of money it is making for the health care industry. The cost of the drugs would cripple anyone making less than $100k per year and there seem to be very few generic drugs available here in America. Gilamead has a cancer drug that they are charging $1k per pill for. If that is NOT robbery what is it I ask? As you well can guess one will need more than one pill to get the full benefit of this promising drug that fights their cancer. Its all a racket. A legalized racket that is pimping the government for the stockholders whom are majority Republican.
Laugh every time you hear that b/s about Obamacare from those silly ass men in congress. It aint going to happen because of how much money it generates and they know it. A spreading disease is a money maker.
edwardnvirginia
Among the likely reasons for growth in STIs – particularly among gay and bisexual men and trans men/women – is the rise of the belief that PrEP medications (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis/Prevention for HIV infection) – are protection enough to go back to unprotected sexual intercourse. Aint’ it so?
edwardnvirginia
Sorry, guys who claim that the culprits are ‘abstinence education’, ‘christian (sic) values’, and the explicit and implicit thread of ‘Southerner-bashing’. Those are not associated with higher rates of STIs despite your bigotry.
Abstinence education and Christian values would promote the value of human beings to make decisions respecting others. But, abreactions to abusive belief systems would likely be associated with self-harming, and other-harming, sexuality. Among self abreactions please include the delusional and deceptive belief system that pretends that PrEP protects against any and all STIs. Obviously, the rise in belief and use of PrEP as a magic pill promotes the rise in many STIs.
The analysis of pervasive poverty – particularly rural poverty – pervasive poor educational attainment – particularly in rural South – and pervasive poor access to health care is an apt analysis – particularly for poor rural South. So, rather than making your big gay vacation plans to Provincetown, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Saugatuck, Barcelona, Bali, etc … why not make a field trip to the rural South to volunteer some time to work with poor rural Southern folks?
onthemark
Why Are STDs Running Rampant In The Deep South?
Apparently, having sex with close relatives causes more disease than having sex with strangers? (LOLOLOL)
@edwardnvirginia: why not make a field trip to the rural South to volunteer some time to work with poor rural Southern folks?
well… let me grow my hair out some, I don’t want them to see my devil horns.
@edwardnvirginia: Nice try blaming PrEP (in TWO posts) but Southern states are not paying for it anyway among “poor rural Southern folks.”
Dakotahgeo
@tdx3fan: “tdx3fan tdx3fan
@Cam: Sure be nice too critisize dall dem Obummers welfare queens. Glad we aint got nun of dem down here.
*Ignores own back yard!”
If I were you I’d start cleaning up the deep South and pretty damn quick or you won’t have enough people to vote for ignorant hillbillies like yourself. Every State in the Union is doing their job to keep the USA healthy and educated! You might want to take a few lessons and get the broom out for your own porch. You people (sic) never learn!
woodin
@jwtraveler:
take a chill pill. John expressed an valid opinion. No need to lash out.
woodin
@edwardnvirginia:
Southern bashing for the sake of bashing….heck no. But in this country and by self definition/identity of many vocal and prominent southerns in this country, evangelists and yes the GOP, hold themselves out as the moral majority/backbone of morality and virtures.
This is comparable to the Vatican lecturing the world on the evils of materialism, pedophilia, inequality between sexes and banking practices.
jwtraveler
@woodin: Yes, he expressed a valid opinion and so did I. How is that “lashing out”? And for the record, I agree with him; I was just pointing out that the U.S. is not the only country plagued by hypocrisy.
vive
The South does a lot of things wrong, but the anti-Southern bigotry on display here is over the top. I think New Orleans, for example, is THE greatest city in th U.S., full of young bohemians, artists, musicians, young gay people, acrivists, etc. Pretty much all the other major cities have driven away the bohemians who used to make those cities great, and are now uniformly yuppified. I have the misfortune of living close to Boston, one of the most Northern of cities. Boston is full of hypocritical fake-liberal (i.e. bourgeois conservative) yuppies. Culturally, Boston has been DEAD for a long time, and doesn’t even begin to compare to the dynamic diversity that is New Orleans.