Report: Louisiana has high rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis

Allison Bruhl
·1 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks Louisiana in the top states with high rates of sexually transmitted infections.

Data shows Louisiana ranks No. 1 for chlamydia and No. 3 for gonorrhea.

Nationwide, syphilis rates are up. Louisiana ranks No. 9 for primary and secondary syphilis and No. 7 for congenital syphilis.

“There are no shortcuts, and we have to meet people where they are. Some people face tremendous barriers to STI prevention and health services. So, the most important work is often outside the clinic, whether it be reaching out to communities with testing, interviewing patients to offer services to their partners, or delivering treatment directly to someone,” Laura Bachmann, acting director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention said.

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In a Feb. 27 House Committee on Health and Welfare meeting, Louisiana Department of Health Deputy Secretary and Interim State Health Officer Pete Croughan said congenital syphilis cases have tripled in recent years with 80% of these cases having had a chance for prevention.

Croughan said medical professionals are following up on positive cases by doing home visits and giving moms shots as part of LDH’s shot program.

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“Also exploring whether we should be changing our screening protocols for areas that are particularly high risk, maybe get tested at every prenatal visit in certain areas,” said Croughan.

According to LDH’s website, calls can be made anonymously at no cost to get more information about HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases by calling 1-800-99-AIDS-9.

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