A cluster of at least 125 adults and teens have contracted HIV, syphilis or both diseases in Milwaukee, according to a report from the Journal Sentinel.
Here are five things to know.
1. The group is one of the largest sexually transmitted infection clusters identified in the city, which is home to 600,000 people, according to healthcare advocates who spoke to the Journal Sentinel.
2. Melissa Ugland, a public health consultant who works with a number of Milwaukee-based nonprofit organizations, told the Journal Sentinel the group was defined as a cluster because the individuals all came into contact with one another during a 12-month period.
3. While fewer than 10 percent of those infected are students in the city's public schools, that number could rise as more individuals come forward, according to the newspaper's sources.
4. The Milwaukee Health Department told the school district the city is experiencing an increase in sexually transmitted infections among individuals ages 15 to 24, according to the report.
"Because schools have a significant number of students in the 15-18 age group, we are working with the Milwaukee Health Department, in a collaborative and preventive effort, to share information with young people in middle schools and high schools to keep them healthy and to protect their health," Milwaukee Public School officials said in a statement cited by the Journal Sentinel.
5. The Milwaukee Health Department has not announced the cluster to the general public as of March 8, according to USA Today.
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