Potter County has had more than its share of bad news in the last few months. The county jail failed its last inspection, the county sheriff was convicted of a felony, two county prisoners were found dead, fees have fallen creating in deficit in the county budget, and the KKK is trying to recruit new members in the county. The county really didn't need more bad news, but it looks like it's here anyway.
The bad news is that the county is one of the leading counties in reported cases of STDs. According to 2006 figures (the last year with official figures), Potter County is second in the state in the rate of gonorrhea and third in the state in the rate of chlamydia.
It seems to be a county thing rather than an area phenomena, because neighboring Randall County has rates below the state average.Unfortunately, the provisional figures for 2007 don't look any better.
Area health officials are trying to figure out what the cause is, but so far have not had any luck. If they can isolate an area of town, a demographic, a local hangout or something along those lines, they would be able to target treatment, prevention and education and hopefully get the rate down. But they have not been able to identify anything so far.
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