Posted on 12/16/2005 6:40:38 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
You've got mail, and maybe gonorrhoea
By Jill Serjeant Thu Dec 15,11:34 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - You've got mail -- and possibly gonorrhoea, HIV or another sexually transmitted disease.
E-mail sent through Web sites launched in Los Angeles and San Francisco is providing people with a free, sometimes anonymous, way to tell their casual sex partners they might have picked up more than they bargained for.
Los Angeles County health officials launched www.inspotla.org this week in a bid to reduce the rapidly rising spread of STDs by encouraging sexually active men and women to get tested.
"This is another opportunity for people to disclose STD exposure to partners because sometimes people don't always have that face-to-face opportunity, or that level of relationship," Karen Mall, director of prevention and testing at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said on Thursday.
"Partner disclosure is where we really have the opportunity to break the chain of HIV infection," Mall said.
The site allows users to choose one of six free e-cards to send to their sexual contacts either unsigned or with a personal message that avoids awkward face-to-face disclosure.
"It's not what you bought to the party, it's what you left with," says one e-card featuring a picture of a bare-chested man. "I left with an STD. You might have one too. Get checked out soon."
"You're too hot to be out of action," says another.
The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Centre, which runs its own counselling services for partner disclosure, welcomed the Web site program.
"Many of the people we are seeing are listing the Internet as the place where they are meeting partners, so the Web site is a really helpful tool for prevention and contacting them," said Tiffany Horton, manager of the centre's sexual health program.
The site is modelled on one launched in San Francisco last year (www.inspot.org) which is generating about 500 e-cards a month. Both are targeted at gay men but can be used by anyone.
Health officials call the e-cards a "fast, free and flexible partner notification system" that also gives information and links to local testing sites.
Some 2,400 new AIDS cases were reported in Los Angeles County in 2003, along with more than 8,000 new gonorrhoea cases and 830 new syphilis cases -- most of them among gay men.
The Web sites urge users to show respect and not to misuse the system. Mall said only half of 1 percent of the e-cards sent through the San Francisco site had been malicious or fraudulent.
"The sites do not give anybody the ability to do anything they can do already if they had somebody's e-mail," Mall said.
"It is something we can monitor. People can get hold of the Web master if they have concerns or want to complain.
"But I give the (gay) community more credit than that. I think the community really wants to get ahead of HIV and STDs and they realise that notification is really important," she said.
Time for Rush to market his Safety Brew - The only beer with a condom in the bottom!
Yecccchhhh!
Owl_Eagle
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"-Hillary Clinton
(Yes, she really said that
Peggy Noonan
The Case Against Hillary Clinton, pg 55)
That's nice. I have a whole new respect for the Bi/Gay Community now. /sarcasm
Paris Hilton might have to utilize this service. Of course, she may then be accused of spamming. Hmmm, can you address email to "occupant?"
No comment.
Just Remember: No Deposit, No Return.
lol
Paris Hilton sends so much email, she qualifies for the "Friends and Family" program.
You might be part of sick subculture, if ... you need to blast emails far and wide to tell all your partners that you've exposed them to STDs.
But, but, but I thought condoms were the solution to everything?
Such a healthy and clean lifestyle.
How far has our culture fallen?
We know each other well enough to have sexual congress but not well enough to mention STD’s
I don’t know this girl well enough to tell her I may have given her a venereal disease, so I’ll just send her a anonymous email.
But the MSM tells us it's not just a gay disease!
And, along the way, forget why it is that we were designed to couple in the first place.
Along those lines, I've been thinking about the following: How about a campaign to base social security payments on the number of progeny you produce? Maybe $200 per child per month, so that two children gets you a $400 per month check; 3 children gets you a $600 a month check, etc.
And, in general, if you didn't produce any progeny, then, in your old age, you'd get zero in state support [zero social security, zero medicare, zero federal/state/local gubmint pensions, etc].
Oh, and a 100% inheritance tax, since you've got no heirs who'd need the loot.
Now that is an email virus!
Josh Ramsey V.D. Caseworker
NOw that's funny.
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