STD Testing Blog

A new campaign has just been launched encouraging young men in Argyll & Bute aged 16 – 24 to get tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea. The scheme, run by Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland and funded by NHS Highland, aims to reduce undiagnosed sexually transmitted infections (STIs) amongst young men because research suggests they are much less likely to get checked out.

Chlamydia is the most common STI, affecting around one in ten young people. In most cases it has no symptoms – so you could have chlamydia and not know it. Whilst some people have no symptoms at all others have tell-tale signs which include pain when urinating or during sex, bleeding after sex and pain in the pelvis or lower abdomen. If untreated, chlamydia can cause serious health problems including infertility in men.

THT is encouraging men to order a free testing kit by visiting http://www.tht.org.uk/free. The test is quick and easy. It involves taking a urine sample which is then sent off in a freepost envelope to the lab, results are available in 1 to 2 weeks. For those who test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhoea, we’ll discuss the easiest way to get treatment.

Katrina Mitchell, Health Promotion Officer at Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland said: “Chlamydia is at its highest level ever in Scotland with a 7% increase on last year alone. Most people taking a test at the moment are women so we need to do more to encourage men to get checked. That’s why we’re sending out test kits to make it as easy as possible for men to get checked out. We know it can be awkward to get to a clinic, so as well as the postal kits we’re also visiting bars and pubs so that men can take the test there and then.”

From July THT will also be out at pubs, clubs, colleges, community centres, places of work and sports and leisure centres, inviting young men to take the test.

European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) guidance issued this week says that notification and management of partners of those with chlamydia should form an essential part of case management.

Consideration should also be given to providing partners with home testing kits or antibiotics for treatment, the guidelines say.

The ECDC reviewed chlamydia control activities in 29 European countries and found wide variation in the provision of services.

The centre believes that surveillance of chlamydia prevalence and treatment across Europe needs to improve.

For the complete article, please refer to http://www.healthcarerepublic.com//news/index.cfm?fuseaction=HCR.RSS.News.Article&nNewsID=916861#AddComment

Chlamydia infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease, responsible for a record 1.1 million cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007, and experts there estimate that twice that many cases go undetected. Left untreated, chlamydia can cause infertility or potentially fatal ectopic pregnancies. But many women aren’t even aware that they were exposed to it—possibly years ago—until they try to have a baby and can’t.

Chlamydia can be detected with a simple urine test. It can be treated with a single dose of antibiotics, and the CDC has been urging all sexually active women under 26 years old to be tested for it annually, as well as older women who have had a change of sexual partner. Yet fewer than 40 % of women in those categories are being screened.

Even when women are treated for chlamydia, about 25% become reinfected within six months—probably due to a partner who wasn’t treated. So the CDC recommends that doctors give women a second course of antibiotics for their partners, even without being seen by a doctor themselves. It can be treated either with a weekly dose of doxycycline or a single dose of azithromycin, which goes by the brand name Zithromax, made by Pfizer Inc., in many countries.

Most official efforts are focused on detecting active chlamydia infections in young women. But what if you think you were exposed years ago? The main risk is to fertility. The CDC recommends that all pregnant women be tested for chlamydia at the first prenatal visit, although if you are planning to become pregnant, it’s a good idea to be tested for all STDs well in advance. Older women who are experiencing pelvic pain, intermittent bleeding, unusual vaginal discharge or signs of early menopause should ask their doctor if chlamydia could be involved.

For the complete article, please refer to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203937504574252362862563486.html

The National Chlamydia Coalition is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase public awareness and screening efforts for chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. According to CDC, there were 1.1 million recorded cases of chlamydia in 2007, although experts estimate that there are twice as many cases that are not detected largely because the infection often causes few symptoms and many people go unscreened.

The infection is three times more common in women than men, which experts say could be because men eliminate it from their bodies more readily than women. Chlamydia is treatable with a single dose of antibiotics, but if left untreated, it can lead to infertility or increased risk for ectopic pregnancies in women.

CDC recommends that all sexually active women younger than age 26 be tested annually for the infection, as well as older women who have had a change of sexual partners. However, fewer than 40% of women in those groups are tested, the Journal reports.

According to the Journal, many patients do not ask to be screened for the disease because the few symptoms it causes — such as bleeding between periods, occasional vaginal discharge, pain during intercourse, pelvic pain in women, and burning upon urination in men — are common to many conditions.

The Journal reports that the issue of how minors can pay for chlamydia testing can also create barriers. All 50 states allow minors to be tested and treated for STIs without parental consent. However, if a minor’s health insurance is provided by his or her parents, a lab fee listed on an explanation of benefits report for the testing could be considered a breach of confidentiality.The results can then be sent via phone, e-mail or regular mail. Los Angeles County, Calif., in June started a similar program for female residents ages 15 to 25.

For the complete article, please refer to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155957.php

SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH

Dear Dr. Donohue — I just had my second pelvic exam. I am 21. The doctor told me he was going to check for infections as well as cancer, and I told him to go ahead. I have no symptoms of infection, like a discharge or any pain. It turns out I have a chlamydia infection. The doctor said it could make having children impossible. I am crushed by all this. I have had two sex partners. I asked if I should tell them, and he just shrugged his shoulders. What do I do? I am being treated.

Chlamydia  is the most common sexually transmitted, bacterial infection in the United States and Canada. More than 4 million adults, mostly between the ages of 16 and 25, come down with it yearly in the U.S. One reason why it’s so rampant is that the infection often causes no symptoms in the woman or the man.

When symptoms do occur, they consist of pelvic pain, pain on urination, vaginal discharge and painful sexual relations in women. In men, the symptoms are a discharge from the penis and painful urination. Sometimes a testicle swells and hurts.

If the infection isn’t treated with antibiotics, it can spread upward in the female genital tract and leave the ovarian ducts scarred and closed. That makes a woman infertile. It also can infect the pelvic organs to produce pelvic inflammatory disease, a painful condition often requiring hospitalization.

For the complete article, please refer to http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/columnists.nsf/drpauldonohue/story/4CA0F5DF43091ABD862575BE0056E907?OpenDocument