Report: Montgomery Leads Nation In STD’s
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It’s a statistic that’s making headlines nationwide.
A recent report names Montgomery as the most sexually diseased city in the nation.
Rent Application put together data from the CDC and found the capital city has the highest rate per capita of any city in the US.
Dr. Jefferson Underwood has been giving out free condoms for the last year to try and help cut down on the rate of STD’s in Montgomery.
The free contraceptives come from the department of public health, so Underwood was not expecting the rate of STD’s to still be so high.
“It is quite surprising but when we look at the per capita number it’s per 100,000 people. So from an absolute number we are not competing with the cities of New York or Los Angeles,” said Dr. Underwood.
Montgomery leads the nation in chlamydia, ghonorrea, and syphilis rates. St. Louis comes in at number two, followed by west Memphis.
Some people in town were also surprised with the numbers.
“I seen it this morning on facebook and I was like, they should be ashamed,” said Quintarrius Wright.
“That’s shocking and that’s not good. That’s very unhealthy. People should be more proactive in looking out for their own health and for each other,” said Kristy Eubanks.
Dr. Underwood says that he’s actually seen more patients coming in to his office to get tested for a full range of STD’s, including HIV.
It’s a welcome visit, because Underwood says many times it’s hard to know if you have a disease.
“Too often many STD’s are asymptomatic, so many times you don’t have any symptoms. One of the best ways to prevent transmission is to pick up a disease before your symptomatic as well as before you can spread it, hopefully to someone else,” said Dr. Underwood.
