On Christmas day, while sitting on my parent’s couch scrolling through my phone, not paying attention to what my cousin was telling me about the “omg, totes amazing frat party” she went to recently, I saw this retweet:

“Hey stranger” texts gonna be disguised as “Merry Christmas” msgs. Stay Woke.

This little chuckle, combined with all the photos of my former high school classmates reliving their glory days over crappy beer at a local dive bar, made me think – damn, I bet there is a lot of chlamydia under the Christmas tree this year. Turns out, I wasn’t totally wrong! The CDC recently reported rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are at an all time high. 2.3 million cases (the highest number ever recorded!) were reported in the U.S. in 2017. And, if you’re a statistics nerd too, then you already know Florida is number 6 in the nation for new Syphilis infections and number 1 in the nation for new HIV infections. Last year, the city of Orlando came in at number 6 in the country for new HIV infections. Rumor has it, news should break soon that Orlando has moved into the top 5, maybe even taking the 2nd or 3rd spot, in this oh-so-prestigious race (insert eye roll here).

So, did you find yourself doing the walk of shame back to your childhood bedroom this holiday season? Did you finally bed the popular kid who never gave you the time of day in high school? Maybe you found out that “hometown hero” action wasn’t as good as it looked when you were a sophomore? Or perhaps you just rekindled some teenage romance for the weekend…whatever fun you got into this year, we aren’t here to judge. Do you, girl. If things were totes consensual and you had fun, we are here for it! We are also here for you and any “burning desires” you might have lingering (that might have been a dad joke, sorry not sorry). Hope & Help’s medical clinic provides comprehensive and culturally competent (in other words, we aren’t afraid to swab ALL the places) STD/STI screening and treatment, as well as rapid HIV screening and treatment, five days a week in our main office. Call for an appointment or drop in to see us.

hyperlink for CDC https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/2018/2018-std-prevention-conference.html

hyperlink for syph stat https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats16/toc.html

hyperlink for number 6 https://www.hivplusmag.com/treatment/2017/1/24/15-us-cities-highest-rates-new-hiv-diagnoses#slide-5

hyperlink to hometown hero https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hometown%20Hero

hyperlink to consent

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sex-and-relationships/sexual-consent

hyperlink for burning https://www.cdc.gov/std/gonorrhea/stdfact-gonorrhea.html

#HealthyChoices #ChooseToProtect #AIDSWALKORLANDO #CDC #HIV #AIDS #STD #Christmas #Holidays