STDs at record-high in Minnesota

It’s hard to believe the problem of sexually transmitted disease among Minnesotans could get worse. But, it did.

The Minnesota Department of Health’s annual report on STDs shows record-high cases — and that’s just the ones that are reported.

“Chlamydia reached a record level of 15,294 cases this past year,” Peter Carr, manager of the STD and HIV Section at MDH said in a news release. The number of syphilis cases rose to a 30-year high of 347 cases. Most of the syphilis cases involve men having sex with men.

Sixty-nine percent of the cases of chlamydia occurred in people between the ages of 15 and 24, and 63% of them occurred in suburbanites or in people in outstate Minnesota.

A Centers for Disease Control 2009 report said the state ranked 37th in the rate of syphilis.

In 2009, by the way, the rate of chlamydia in 15-24 year olds who were tested at family planning clinics, was half that of women tested at other sites.

Find the full report here.