San Francisco Is a Hotbed of STDs

By Erin Sherbert Thu., Feb. 9 2012 at 9:20 AM

Categories: Health

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Do you need someone from the health department to slip it in for you?

Just a year ago, the city's Health Department proudly released the female condom 2 with forceful fanfare. But after reviewing some preliminary stats on STD cases over the last year, we've concluded that those touted contraceptives are still sitting in the wrappers on your desk.

According to the Health Department, the number of STD cases spiked in 2011 for the sixth year in a row. C'mon, people.

The Bay Area Reporter breaks it down for readers, explaining that the number of gonorrhea cases climbed by double digits last year. Reported gonorrhea cases jumped from 1,943 in 2010 to 2,243 in 2011 -- a 15.4 percent increase. Meanwhile, the number of rectal gonorrhea cases among men surged last year to 622 cases, a 38.2 percent increase over the 479 cases recorded in 2010.

This is the point where we would balance the bad news with good news -- if there were any.

Moving on, the number of chlamydia cases also increased from 4,603 two years ago to 4,741 cases in 2011, a 3 percent gain. Male rectal chlamydia shot up by nearly 5 percent, however, it marked a dramatic decline -- percentage wise -- from the 23.4 percent increase recorded in 2010.

The city has continued to record gains in syphilis cases since 2008, when there was a decline in such cases. In 2011, the number of early syphilis cases rose to 682 cases from the 659 seen in 2010.

Now's a good time to feature this refresher course on how to use the female condom, which works for anal sex as well.

In short: San Francisco can be both slutty and free of disease.

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