A report that looked at data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies Springfield among the top 100 US cities with the highest sexually transmitted disease rates per capita.
A research team at Innerbody.com ranked Springfield 58th in the country with 980 STD cases per 100,000 people.
Kendra Findley is the administrator of community health and epidemiology at the Springfield – Greene County Health Department. She says one reason why Springfield may be on the list because this area has a lot of awareness and opportunities for local testing by organizations like Aids Project of the Ozarks, or APO.
“They have a downtown location, so if you’re downtown, out with your friends, you can drop by their location and get testing. Or sometimes they’re even out in bars testing,” Findley told KSMU.
She said STDs are on the rise nationwide and that condom use among teenagers has decreased. Chlamydia is the top STD in Greene County, Findley said.
The Missouri cities of St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia also made the top 100 list.