I am so glad to not be single these days.  Statistics like this make me appreciate my wife even more than I ever thought possible.

I'm not sure if the United States military still shows videos regarding the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases to new recruits, but the one they showed me during basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri back in 1982 was all I needed to see to get the big picture.

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It was horrifying. But the video did its job and it might be time for a resurgence of those old videos, especially for those here in the Shreveport area.

Again this year, Shreveport ranks as one of the worst cities in America when it comes to STD rates. In fact, there are four separate Louisiana cities in the Top 100.

Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images
Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images
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Which Four Louisiana Cities Made This Dreaded List?

In this year's Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jackson, Mississippi was ranked as having the highest STD rates in the country.  Innerbody.com noted that

The South continues to be disproportionately represented among the hardest-hit cities. Of the Top 25, 17 are southern cities

And four of those Top 25 cities are right here in Louisiana.

  • #11 New Orleans
  • #16 Baton Rouge
  • #21 Shreveport
  • #82 Lafayette
William B. Plowman, Getty Images
William B. Plowman, Getty Images
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The Common Denominator For High Ranking Smaller Cities

One common trend within the study appeared and could show why Shreveport and some other smaller cities might have ranked so well.

Among the 10 cities with the highest rates, three are cities that are small in population relative to the others, but they happen to be the location of large military bases:

  • Augusta, GA (Fort Gordon Army Base)
  • Montgomery, AL (Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base)
  • Fayetteville, NC (Fort Bragg, the largest base in the country)

And these cities are not alone. Elsewhere on the list, we find:

  • 21st highest: Shreveport, LA (Barksdale Air Force Base)

It's Not All Bad News For Shreveport

While one would have to concede that with only twenty American cities having higher STD rates than Shreveport, things locally look somewhat dismal, however, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

We are actually improving in this area.  In the previous release, Shreveport was rated as having the ninth highest STD rate in the country. This time, we were rated as number twenty one.  That said, we still have a lot of work to do informing the public about the dangers of unprotected sex.

To see the Top 150 rankings for STD rates in America, go HERE.

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