Gonorrhea outbreak puts Alaska in uphill battle with STD

[unhappycamper]

Gonorrhea outbreak puts Alaska in uphill battle with STD
By Lisa Demer | The Anchorage Daily News
Posted on Friday, November 26, 2010

An outbreak of gonorrhea across Alaska that began in 2009 is continuing this year, and health officials say they are trying new ways to curb it.

Between 2008 and 2009, the number of gonorrhea cases in Alaska rose an alarming 69 percent, according to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

State health officials began calling attention to a spike in gonorrhea cases in Southwest Alaska more than a year ago and highlighted the statewide rise in March.

The new report shows that Alaska ranks ninth in the nation for its rate of gonorrhea, compared with its ranking in recent years in the mid-20s. Alaska also is second in the nation for its high rate of chlamydia, another sexually transmitted disease that often is transmitted along with gonorrhea.

"Hopefully, the high numbers now are more of a success story in that people are coming in and getting tested. Though I am surprised the numbers haven't declined," said Susan Jones, the state's HIV/STD program manager. "It's this continuing rise in numbers that we haven't been able to get under control."

[Ian David]

1. I bet Bristol Palin is at the center of a cluster. n/t

[Angrylarry]

6. hehe

lol wow, Sarah said screw you guys

[dipsydoodle]

2. Cases of gonorrhea are not always bad news

Everyone gets bored with Californian Chardonnay from time to time.

[iamtechus]

3. quarantine the Palins nt

[MattBaggins]

4. I got it from the TSA screener honey.

[lightningandsnow]

5. Gonorrhea is actually really treatable.

Nasty, especially if left untreated? Definitely.

Curable? Yes.

Honestly, it's more treatable than most bacterial infections. You just need a couple doses of antibiotics. For pete's sake, I once had a staph infection that required antibiotics 4 times a day for 10 days, and could have gotten worse if I didn't see a doctor right away. And we don't see staph outbreaks reported in the media, because it doesn't have the stigma of being an STD.

I anticipate non-existent sex education has something to do with this outbreak, though.

[beyurslf]

7. It's cold up there. they have to do something to keep warm.

[era veteran]

8. Two big syringes of concrete going into your butt cheeks

will warm you up, or so I've heard.

[Lil Missy]

9. Time to lock up the palins