Boston health officials and community groups in Dorchester’s Bowdoin-Geneva section are launching a campaign to quash chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease that is afflicting teenagers and young adults in the neighborhood at an alarming degree.
The rate of chlamydia among Bowdoin-Geneva residents ages 15 to 24 is twice that of the rest of Boston, a statistic that concerns the city public health commission, which has targeted the disease among its three top priorities, along with low birth weight and obesity.
Comments
Big Nate could not be reached for comment. Little Nate could not be reached for comment either.
Ha! that one was a howl!
Very low comment.
Like you expected something different?
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I worked in clinics in Dorchester and Roxbury and I have to say its not just a "teen" problem, Adults are getting infected too. Lack of education and lack of condoms. We once did a sexual health fair within the community near 90% of females took condoms while only 20% of males did. The answer we got from males was "they don't need that they are clean." "And it doesn't feel the same, I am only with one person." Those answers from from adult men! They were really offended that we offered them FREE condoms.
Completely agree with you Neverworld. Pardon the obvious but the education has to begin at a young age. Sex in whatever form, especially during the formative years is an incredible form of intimate power. It's used on both sides and clearly made worse by the age of the web as well as many of the shows that stream endlessly into homes all over the map. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude but if people won't learn proactively through education, the I hope new stories like this one reach at least some of them and scare the living you-know-what out of them.
Failing that, I'll fall back to what I tell my kids every time they 'fail' at something.... "What did you learn?"
I've lived in the Boston area since the late '60s and I never heard of Bowdoin-Geneva until the Globe started talking about it. When did Bowdoin-Geneva become a neighborhood?
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Agreed. When I was working with Uphams Corner Health Center on a project as St. Margarets was closing, suddenly that area was the city's new (ultimately in vain) attempt to be the creative healthcare concept/example of success. Bowdoin is a place I drive around and not through during the warmer months. It's a delightful slice of what could have been (150 years ago).
I agree with Rileysdad. Sexually active folks MUST protect the selves against sexually transmitted disease. Most unfortunately, "the pill" has prevented unwanted pregnancy BUT increased disease transmission. Chlamydia is only the tip of the iceberg. AIDS, HPV-related cancers, and certain lymphomas and leukemias have made the list. Semen is the best viral medium-full of cells in nutrients. What better way to increase the CANCER rate? The fewer sexual partners one has, the better. the lateremerging lentivirus ess will be knocking on their door sometime between 50-60 years of age ( these are the lucky ones). Many cancers that used to appear much later in life, as above, are emerging much earlier.