Louisiana Healthcare Officials Announce STDs Are Through The Roof

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that Louisiana has reached its highest levels among Sexually Transmitted (STD) cases in decades. Congenital syphilis, where the baby is when the disease is born to a baby via an infected mother, is also among the country's highest. According to the CDC's latest report, the following STDs are rising in the state at an alarming rate:

SYPHILIS 

CHLAMYDIA

GONORRHEA

Federal officials warned that the nation's syphilis cases have increased by 9%, the highest since 1950. To slow the pace of infections, the report is calling for the mobilization of all health agencies and taking a “whole-of-nation approach if we hope to turn the tide.” Unfortunately, Louisiana has outpaced the uptick on a national level. That ain't good. Skyrocketing by about 24% and eroding years of progress.

Samuel Burgess, Director of the Louisiana Department of Health STD/HIV explained the state has been on a steady increase in STDs for a few years. Burgess continued. "And they're rising at a greater pace in many other states more so than Louisiana, but we had a high burden of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis even before the national rates started rising in the past several years."

One of the best ways to turn things around is to practice safe sex all of the time and to get tested. Below is more important information about the rise in STD cases, symptoms, and what to do if you think you may have been infected.