Among the bacterial infections that are tracked by state health officials, sexually-transmitted diseases are the most frequently reported.  According to George Walton, a program manager for the Iowa Department of Public Heath, “Chlamydia definitely has the greatest number of new diagnoses, by far, compared to any other sexually-transmitted infection.”

State law requires doctors and laboratories to report confirmed cases of chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, H-I-V and AIDS to the department. There were more than 11-thousand cases of chlamydia confirmed in Iowa last year. “It is relatively easy to diagnose and treat, but you have to be looking for it,” Walton says. “…The testing that we have available now is very sensitive…not nearly as many false-negatives as we saw with older testing technology.”

Chlamydia is the most common infectious disease in the United States. If left untreated, chlamydia can make it difficult for women to become pregnant. The recommended treatment now for chlamydia is a single dose of a prescription drug. The second-most prevalent sexually-transmitted disease in Iowa is gonorrhea. About 16-hundred cases of gonorrhea were reported in Iowa last year. Walton expects even more cases to be reported this year.

“That’s one that we’re really keeping an eye on for a number of reasons,” Walton says. “One is there’s a lot of concern with antibiotic resistance with that particular infection.” The other most common sexually-transmitted disease in the U.S. and in Iowa is syphilis. There was a 450 percent INCREASE in the number of new syphilis cases in Iowa in 2013. Syphilis is highly-contagious, but it can be treated with one dose of penicillin.

There were 99 cases of H-I-V infections diagnosed in Iowa during 2014. That was a “significant decline” of 19 percent from the year before according to Walton, but he expects the number of confirmed cases of H-I-V to be higher in Iowa this year. “My guess is that it’ll be closer towards the average for the last five years,” Walton says. Other types of infectious diseases that must be reported to state officials include any of the five strains of Hepatitis.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Farm equipment manufacturer Deere and Company says United Auto Workers members have approved a new six-year labor agreement that covers facilities in multiple Iowa cities. Deere and UAW reached a tentative agreement last week. The company said in a statement Sunday it received notification that UAW members had ratified the deal.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad’s executive order to create an office for bullying prevention in schools bypasses failed legislative action on the issue. But the September 28th move raises questions about how the small office will tackle major problems. Alan Heisterkamp is the director of the Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Northern Iowa, which will manage the Governor’s Office for Bullying Prevention.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing and injuring his brother. The Sioux City Journal reports police were called to the home where the stabbing happened around 3 a.m. Sunday. The victim told police that his 32-year-old brother, Lonny Reuney, had stabbed him. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment, and Reuney was taken to the Woodbury County Jail. Reuney is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 100 people watched the Riverfront YMCA in Des Moines crumble to the ground. The Register reports the building imploded Sunday when workers set off about 100 pounds of dynamite that had been placed around the 1957-built structure.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing and injuring his brother. The Sioux City Journal reports police were called to the home where the stabbing happened around 3 a.m. Sunday.

The victim told police that his 32-year-old brother, Lonny Reuney, had stabbed him. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment, and Reuney was taken to the Woodbury County Jail. Reuney is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating an incident of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon. Authorities say at around 12:10-p.m., Sunday (Oct. 4th), officers responded to the area of 1800 block of Ave “B” for a report of shots fired. Upon their arrival, police found shell casings in the street and several residents who had witnessed the
incident.

An investigation revealed that persons unknown in a suspect vehicle were traveling eastbound in the 1800 block of Ave “B,” when several shots were fired from the inside the vehicle. A pedestrian on the sidewalk at the time of the shooting was not injured, but one of the rounds did strike the outside of a residence in the area.

No one in the home was injured during the shooting, and the round fired did not penetrate to the interior of the residence. The Council Bluffs Criminal Investigation Division is currently following up on this incident. Anyone with information
regarding the incident is requested to call the Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4765 or Crime Stoppers Hotline at 712-328-7867.

A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Sunday) morning resulted in a Nebraska man being arrested on drug charges. Red Oak Police say 52-year old Douglas Lee Kuester, of Ralston, NE., was taken into custody at around 1:10-a.m., after the car he was driving was pulled over at the corner of N. 3rd and E. Market Streets.

Following a brief investigation, Kuester was arrested on a felony charge of OWI-drugged/3rd offense, and serious misdemeanor charges that include Possession of a controlled substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving while revoked.

Kuester was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond.