Chlamydia -
Take the Tough Test
Campaign urges people to be checked for
sexually transmitted diseases - By Robert Preidt -
HealthScout Reporter
April 8 (HealthScout) - More than 15 million Americans will
contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD) this year, yet
millions of them will be unaware of it, says the American Social
Health Association.
Many STDs have no symptoms, and can only be identified through
testing. That's why the association's theme for STD Awareness
Month in April is "Know For Sure."
"People who are sexually active can have a sexually
transmitted disease and not know it. They can pass it on to their
partner, or they can get it from their partner. The only way to
know for sure is to get tested,'' says association spokesman
Michael Stalker.
Left untreated, STDs spread quickly and cause health problems such
as chronic pain, infertility and cancer.
As an example of the lack of awareness, Stalker says about 45
million Americans have genital herpes. Yet it's estimated that 80
percent of them aren't aware they have the disease. They haven't
been tested and they don't recognize the symptoms, which can be
confused with jock itch, a rash or even a bug bite. Stalker says
there isn't always a lesion to warn people they have genital
herpes.
Chlamydia is another example. Stalker says 3 million cases will be
diagnosed this year in the United States, but 75 percent of women
with chlamydia don't know they have it.
"So the 3 million might be the tip of the iceberg,"
Stalker says.
STDs are among the most common infectious diseases in the United
States, says Theresa Raphael, executive director of the National
Coalition of STD Directors. Stalker says many people seem to have
forgotten about some forms of STDs.
"We're trying to get people aware that gonorrhea is still out
there, syphilis is still out there, chlamydia is still out there.
HIV has been in the front and center of many people's minds over
the last couple of decades, and we've kind of forgotten about all
of the other things you can get," Stalker says.
Testing for STDs is essential for your health and the safety of
your sexual partners, he stresses.
"You can cure many of them, you can treat all of them and all
of them are preventable," Stalker says.
One problem is many people have a sense of shame about STDs, or
refuse to believe they can contract such diseases.
"We live in a culture where bad things happen to bad people,
and STDs are bad. Good people don't get bad things," Stalker
says is typical of how many people think.
That attitude is pervasive even in the medical community. Many
doctors just don't think their patients are people who'll contract
an STD or they just don't want to broach the topic, Stalker says.
Television and movies don't help in terms of raising awareness in
the USA, which has the highest STD rates of any
industrialized nation.
"Everybody has sex on television, and so few people talk
about unplanned pregnancies, about HIV, about syphilis, about
herpes, about the stuff that happens when you have sex and don't
protect yourself," Stalker says.
Honest communication between sex partners about risk and about
protecting one another is another important aspect of STD
prevention, he says.
What To Do
Here are some facts from the American Social Health Association:
- One in five Americans has an STD.
- Two-thirds of all STD cases occur in people under 25.
- One in four new STD infections occurs in teenagers.
- STDs, other than HIV, cost about $8 billion each year to
diagnose and treat.
- One in four Americans will contract an STD
- Less than half of adults 18 to 44 have even been tested
for an STD other than HIV.
If you want to get more information about STDs or want a
referral to a clinic in your community, you can call the Centers
for Disease Control's (CDC) National STD Hotline at 1-800-342-2437
or 1-800-227-8922. The TTY number is 1-800-243-7889.
To find out more about STDs, check out the CDC
or information at the American
Social Health Association.
08-APR-2001 - Copyright © 2001 Rx Remedy, Inc. Dysfunction
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