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A Message for Your Captain Winky or Furry Pink Canoe
Blush Response/Flickr
Ladies and gents, we're glad to hear you're taking our advice and getting your naughty bits checked out, but as a result, there are more cases of STDs like chalmydia being reported nationally. Because screening for women has become better, they are reporting three times as many cases as men. According to an AP story (via abc7.com), 2007 saw the most ever reported cases of the "symptomless infection" that can cause infertility in women--1.1 million cases, in fact. Syphilis' numbers "rose modestly," and good ol' gonorrhea "remained roughly the same." Of course, statistics can't account for all the folks who are foolishly keeping it to themselves, but ironically sometimes sharing it with their sexual partners: "The reported cases are just part of the picture. Health officials believe as many as 2.8 million Americans get chlamydia each year."
There's no shame in getting tested; Los Angeles County has a complete STD information and services website, with places you can go to get tested for free. And just to put a little bit of rainbows and sunshine on your private parts vocab, check out the "Take Care Down There" song.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
