Reportable STD cases have gone up markedly since 2009, according to new data.
Be careful out there, guys. In particular syphilis cases have seen a huge spike among "men who have sex with men." Syphilis is up 79% overall. HIV is also up 33%
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/19/health/std-rates-ri … index.html
Of course, among those is Charlie Sheen. What did you guys think of his announcement? Drugs or sex? :)
I gritted my teeth when reading the CNN article penned by Carina Storrs. I don't doubt the statistics given in the piece, but its conclusions on why the rates are going up are thoughtlessly worked out. When "probably" and "could be" are used to draw conclusions over a population of 320 million, then it's "probably" wrong and leads readers to their own erroneous assumptions.
This year, rural America has seen an outbreak of HIV--the story of Austin, Indiana especially stands out. That spike is directly attributed to meth and the sharing of needles, but it's being played out all over in economically depressed communities in the US. If Storrs had been somewhat rigorous in her research the connection between poverty, drugs, lack of access to healthcare and the STD uptick would have been reported. Here in San Diego County where I live it's a direct correlation, and I'm betting it's the same where you live.
I agree with art4u on the "men who have sex with men" clause is so awkward. Much of this article is awkward--within the stats there's a clear increase of STDs in the population of women. Storrs weirdly addresses it in an offhand manner, and then she finishes off her article with "The finding that rates of these STDs were increasing among men in particular should remind women to do everything they can to protect themselves and use a condom." Really? Tell me Carina, what should men, or "men who are having sex with men" do? How fucking trite can you get.
Bear, you're in the news business--I don't think you would have let this piece out the door first without taking a pen to it, no?
@TopDad--SF County has been real aggressive in its treatment of people with HIV and AIDS. There's a lot to be said for its model, but not all communities have the resources, or the political will, to sustain vigilant campaigns. Not sure if you caught this piece in the NY Times from October this year, but it covers your point. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/health/san-fran … tment.html
@MT--We all our connected, thanks. Apathy, in the face of all that's been lost, is a tough one to swallow.
I lived through a history of wonder in the 60s and 70s followed by one of horror in the 80s and 90s. I made more panels for the AIDS quilt than I care to count. The field of the sewed memories of beautiful men is so large now that it can’t be displayed in one place at one time anymore. I have helped too many people leave me with love and some dignity, while I fought with doctors so that my friends, who were closer to me than family, would not suffer extra trauma. Many clinical attempts were made to turn humans into lab-rats adding to their pain and confusion because gays, at that time, were considered more than rodents but less than human. And, through some strange twist of fortune I am negative… the only one of my close nit group still alive. So for me and for my lost loves I intend to stay that way, still loving men, but protecting us all as well as those who are connected to us and to them and on and on.
For those who are so immature to think ‘it’ (whatever the ‘it’ is today or will be in the future) will not happen to them- go back and look at some films about the 80s and 90s... not too many years back. Perhaps you were not yet born or too young to understand then. But, most especially those of us who lived through those times who are older- negative or undetectable for- no matter how many years-, it is our responsibility to protect others and ourselves… and it only takes a condom or non-penetrative sex! Your knowledge should be shared not you ego.
Newer diseases develop like SARS or Avian Bird Flu and older ones like Ebola attack again more powerfully because current drugs can be ineffectual. As a cocktail of drugs became a saving gift for so many, thank god, keeping some wonderful men alive, well, and active… a cocktail of illnesses could be an even more deadly nightmare undoing everything we worked so hard and so long to gain.
The statistics are also there that negative guys don’t need to be afraid of men who are positive even though we know that a condom is not 100%. The point is this, <We Are All Responsible For Each Other>. Let’s face it, the church would be only too happy to see the LGBT population become targeted again with deadly illnesses, especially ones that could have been prevented and easily. It could be another weapon used forcing laws to be written because ‘some communities’ have proved not to be responsible when it comes to a nation’s health and well being. We are all connected. If you don’t feel you are, then may-be you shouldn’t be.