The Florida Department of Health in Orange County reports an increase in cases of sexually transmitted diseases from 2015 to 2016. This comes as the US Centers for Disease Control says STDs hit an all-time high in America for the third year in a row.
The Data
The CDC’s report states that Alaksa has the highest “disease score” of all the states with 484 sexually infected people per 100,000 people. That makes Alaska the US state with the highest STD rate. Mississippi came second, followed by Lousiana and Georgia. Florida came in at number 24.
Kent Donahue, spokesman for the Health Department, said the most common STDs in Orange County are chlamydia followed by gonnorea, with over 8,000 cases and 2,000 cases in 2015, respectively.
"The majority of our chlamydia cases are in the younger population, the school age and the college age grouping," Donahue said. "If left untreated, STDs can cause an increase of the risk of giving or getting the HIV virus."
Untreated STDs can also lead to long-term pelvic and abdominal pain, as well as the inability for females to get pregnant.
“We’re seeing Orange County and the Central Florida area is becoming one of the hot zones for HIV in the state of Florida and throughout the southeastern United States,” he said.
The Treatment
Central Florida has a dedicated website to TALK, TEST AND TREAT.
People can also get tested at the Orange County Health Department’s Central Health Center at 832 W Central Blvd. The number is 407-836-2600.
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