STD education
campaign reaches out to gay men, minorities

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health aims to reach African-American and Latina women as well as gay and bisexual men with its new STD education campaign. Funded by the County Board of Supervisors, the campaign seeks to reverse Los Angeles County's sharp increase in syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia cases. The campaign urges sexually active young minority women and gay men to get tested for STDs every six months.

"The rates of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are all alarmingly high and rising in our community," said county public health director Jonathan E. Fielding in a press release. "Last year alone, nearly 18,000 cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were recorded among African-American and Latina women younger than 25 years of age in L.A. County. Gay and bisexual men represented at least 1,000 cases of syphilis in 2006."

"Gonorrhea and chlamydia are often asymptomatic, so that infected individuals do not know they are infected and do not seek medical care," said Peter R. Kerndt, director of the STD program for the Department of Public Health, in the press release. "However, these diseases can have serious consequences, including complications during pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility."

In 2005, gay and bisexual men accounted for 85% of reported syphilis cases, the press release states, while six out of 10 such cases were also HIV-positive.

The Department of Public Health oversees environmental health, disease control, and community and family health. (The Advocate)