What three things likely contributed to the dramatic decline in some sexually transmitted illness rates in Newfoundland and Labrador in the past 25 years?
Take gonorrhea, for example. Exactly 792 cases in this province in 1980. Only one in 2004.
Why the massive drop?
What about chlamydia? Not such a dramatic decline at all. In fact both the number of cases reported and the rate of infection in the population has gone up since the early 1990s.
Take a look at last year's release from Health Canada and you won't get a clue. Nationally, gonnorhea is on the increase, as is chlamydia.
It doesn't make sense that our population would buck the trend so dramatically.