Medford, Ore. — Jackson County public health officials said a disease is spreading rapidly through both the county and the state and now, they’re taking action.
Cases of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis are up nearly 400% since 2010. The Oregon Health Authority said they haven’t seen the numbers this high for this disease since the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Jackson County’s Public Health Director Jim Shames said the numbers are a big concern for our county.
“The more people who don’t know they have it the more they spread it,” Shames said.
Shames said the numbers are largely driven by men who have sex with other men, but perhaps most troubling is how many of them are a result of what he calls random hookups.
“There’s a lot of new apps that people can put on their cell phones that make it really easy for people to have casual sex,” Shames said.
One cell phone application, Tinder, allows people to instantly find a potential partner based on similar interests and photos.
Southern Oregon University Sophomore Joey Patino said the app is popular among his friends, so he created an account. But Patino admits he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend.
“If someone is going on Tinder to find a significant other they should really just go to Eharmony,” Patino said. “No one is going on Tinder for a significant other they’re going on it for physical purposes.”
Patino said after a while he gave up on the app altogether.
“I thought it was creepy,” he said.
And while technology is changing the way many meet there’s still plenty of hooking up at old fashioned meeting spots.
“There are adult bookstores where you can go to meet anonymously,” Shames said.
That doesn’t surprise Medford Police Lieutenant Mike Budreau and he said it’s legal as long as the sex is between two consenting adults, there’s no minors involved, no exchange of money, and no public display of the sexual act.
And although Budreau said cell phone apps are slowly taking the place of websites a simple search on Craigslist reveals thousands of detailed inquiries for casual sex at popular meeting places in Medford.
Some of the people who posted on Craigslist even specify that they don’t want to use protection at all.
The health department has passed out condoms and flyers on STD prevention. They’ve even visited “hook up” locations to offer business cards for people with questions. They’ve been met with no response.
So syphilis continues to spread, and for Shames it’s a discouraging truth.
“I think the message concerning safe sex and how to protect yourself was recognized but there’s been a softening of that message,” he said.
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