He’s visited jails, knocked on doors and approached strangers across L.A. County — all in search of syphilis. Rocha calls patients recently diagnosed with syphilis or HIV, but younger ones usually don’t pick up their phones. Syphilis rates are soaringWhen Rocha started working at the department, syphilis seemed to be on its way out. But amid the growth in syphilis cases, health officials are reevaluating this one-on-one approach to STD prevention. Additionally, there’s early evidence showing that syphilis patients aren’t connected to each other through a sexual network, but through drug use, she said.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 30, 2017 10:52 UTC