SAN ANTONIO -- Cases of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia are up in 2015, but officials say there’s a big drop in primary and secondary Syphilis rates.
"The law means nothing if they're not getting pre-natal care,” said Dr. Anil Mangla with Metro Health.
That law is a state requirement for providers to test pregnant women for Syphilis early in their third trimester to prevent a congenital case of the disease. It’s a law that was drafted in San Antonio and implemented almost a year ago.
"They're going to have mental disabilities, they're going to have physical disabilities, they go through part blindness, deafness,” Mangla said.
In Bexar County, the rates have dropped over the past several years.
"In 2015, we had ten cases, out of the ten cases, eight of those women had zero pre-natal care,” Mangla added.
For many women, access to pre-natal care doesn't come easy.
"Many of these women that have been identified with congenital cases are drug abusers, many are prostitutes and they're in the street trying to make a living to care for their kids,” said Mangla.
Since they can't make it to a clinic, Metro Health is brining one to them in the form of a mobile unit.
"It's equipped with two counseling rooms, a blood draw area, an exam room, as well as a bathroom,” said Crystal Garza with STD Field Clinic Operations.
This unit is the first of its kind for San Antonio.
"We're going to go into those zip codes and get those individuals tested and treated,” Mangla said.
From now until July, Metro Health already has 13 events with the mobile unit scheduled in underserved neighborhoods.
"At the moment we will be testing and encouraging testing at the mobile unit without any cost,” Garza said.