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Maine Officials Call For Increased Testing Amid Rising STI Rates

As the numbers of cases of sexually transmitted disease continue to rise in Maine and across the nation, state health officials are emphasizing the importance of prevention, testing and treatment.

“The problem with sexually transmitted diseases is that, for many people, they don’t have any symptoms, so they don’t know they have the infection, but the consequences of having an infection can be quite serious,” says state epidemiologist Siiri Bennett.

Bennett says the rates of syphilis and gonorrhea have increased dramatically in the past five years.

“Both of them are treatable, and the important thing to remember is, if you treat early, it’s easier and you’re better off, and the other thing is that if you have one of the infections and you’re treated, you need to make sure your partner is treated at the same time,” she says.

Tuesday is the final day of National Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.