JACKSON, Miss. ( WLBT /Gray News) - Medical experts say Mississippi has some of the highest STD rates in the country.

The STD rate, depending on your source , is around 1,200 per 100,000 Mississippian, or 1 per every 100.

The state has long been plagued by high rates of gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV.

In years prior, Hinds County had the dishonor of having the highest STD rate of any county in the country.

However, the state’s current boom of congenital syphilis , which follows a nationwide trend, has the medical community now labeling it an epidemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , congenital syphilis occurs when syphilis passes to babies during pregnancy, and it can cause serious health problems without treatment.

A 2023 report from the CDC

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