STD Rates Are Skyrocketing And Officials Don’t Really Know Why
In Orange County, the most recent data shows a 412 percent increase in syphilis cases from 2011 to 2016, a 204 percent increase in gonorrhea, and a 59 percent increase in chlamydia.
Orange County Register:
Syphilis Up 412%, Gonorrhea 204%: Why Are Orange County STD Rates Through The Roof?
Public health officials throughout Southern California are grappling with alarming increases in syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia that are part of a national epidemic. In 2015, total combined cases of the three sexually transmitted diseases reached an all-time high, according to a late 2016 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report noted that gonorrhea rates were at historic lows and syphilis was close to elimination earlier in the 2000s but now the STDs pose “a substantial health challenge.” (Perkes, 1/24)
In other public health news —
San Jose Mercury News:
Latex-Detecting Dog Is Woman's Weapon Against Dangerous Allergy
The black Labrador Retriever is part of a growing trend in service dogs primed to protect allergy sufferers from potentially deadly encounters with everything from soy to nuts. “I know she’s got my back,” Hayes said of the playful but obedient pooch that returned with her this week to college in New York. When Andromeda pinpoints any odor of latex, she drastically increases sniffing, brackets the source of the latex with her body, then sits and stares at the item to alert Hayes to stay away. Her owner rewards the dog’s efforts with lavish praise, big hugs, and a delicious treat. (Seipel, 1/24)