While Alaska’s rate of HIV infection remains relatively low, its chlamydia infection rate is among the highest in the United States, the Associated Press/Juneau Empire reports (juneauempire.com, 6/17).

According to reports by the state’s Divisions of Public Health, 1,206 HIV cases were reported in Alaska from 1982 to 2007, while 4,911 chlamydia cases were reported in 2007 alone—an 8 percent increase from the previous year.

The article also notes that sexually transmitted infections, like chlamydia, can raise the risk of HIV transmission.