STANISLAUS COUNTY: To Launch Chlamydia Prevention Campaign

      Health officials in Stanislaus County are launching a new chlamydia to the fore with a new awareness and prevention campaign aimed at sexually active women, the Modesto Bee reports. Armed with a $16,000 state grant, the county Health Services Agency's project will include passing out brochures at clinics, presentations and health fairs. Although chlamydia cases have dipped slightly in the county, the disease remains a public health concern. In 1998, 953 cases were reported in Stanislaus County, a decline from 1,058 in 1991. Eighty percent of the 1998 cases were among women. The county's infection rate is 220 cases per 100,000 residents, just below California's average of 235 cases per 100,000 persons. The grant program was started by the California Department of Health Services, the California Health Care Foundation, and the University of California at San Francisco to reduce the cases of chlamydia by half by 2004. California Health Care Foundation Vice President Elaine Batchlor said the effort was spurred by the "epidemic proportions" of infections that in many cases go unreported (Herendeen, Modesto Bee, 4/4).