TUESDAY,APRIL22,2003
SILENT EPIDEMIC
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Epidemic CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
who are sexually active to go ahead and get a chlamydia test," she said.
Watkins offers confidential billing, meaning the bill can be sent to the student, not the student's parents, and it can be kept off insurance companies' records, Strother said.
Getting tested should be seen in the same way as any other health maintenance test is seen, Strother said.
"You're not only protecting your own body, but the people you care about," she said.
Although the CDC recommends that all sexually active women between the ages of 20 and 25 be screened once a year for chlamydia, routine screenings for sexually transmitted diseases are not widely done.
Though in 2001,783,242 cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States, an estimated three million cases occur annually, according to the CDC. The gap between the reported cases and the expected cases is due to the lack of chlamydia screenings.
The doctors at Lawrence's Women's Healthcare Group, 1440 Wakarusa Drive, don't routine screenings for chlamydia, said Laura McMurray, gynecologist at the group. But McMurray thinks it would be a good idea in high-risk populations, such as college students.
"I think it probably is, depending on how many partners they have or have had," she said.
McMurray sees college students as patients but doesn't see too many with chlamydia, she said. Places like Watkins and the Lawrence-Douglas "I think it's really important, when it can have such a profound affect on women's future health, to be aware."
Kathy Rose-Mockry Program and associate director of the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center
County Health Department, 200 Maine St., probably see a higher percentage because they see more students, she said.
The 4-1-1 on chlamydia
The disease is caused by the chlamydia trachomatis bacteria, according to the American College Health Association. The bacteria are transmitted through contact of mucous membranes with the infected person's fluids. If symptoms are present with chlamydia, they may include pain or dull aching from the cervix, a heavy feeling in the pelvic area, pain with urination or intercourse, heavier menstrual flow, breakthrough bleeding and heavy cervical discharge, according to the American College Health Association.
Like the disease itself, the damage done by chlamydia can be silent, according to the CDC.
If chlamydia spreads to the fallopian tubes it can cause infection that can lead to scarring, which can hamper fertility or increase the risk of a pregnancy outside of the uterus, according to information on chlamydia provided by Watkins.
Chlamydia can also lead to pelvic inflammatory disease.
According to the National Institutes of Health, pelvic inflammatory disease is an infection of the upper genital tract.
At Watkins, doctors have seen the disease firsthand.
"We have seen it causing pelvic inflammatory disease, fortunately not too often," Buck said.
Pelvic inflammatory disease is the leading cause of sterility in women, according to the CDC.
Women may not know they have chlamydia until they try to get pregnant; then they find out about the disease. McMurray said.
Although the disease is dangerous, if it is caught early enough, it can be treated with common antibiotics.
Chlamydia can be treated with one dose, or six tablets, of Azithromycin, commonly known as Zithromax, for about $20 or ten days of Doxycycline, taken twice daily for n
"It's all a matter of keeping informed and not being afraid of being informed. The whole idea is 'knowledge is power.' If you have that power, you can prevent early on."
Mary Ann Rasnak Director of the Student Development Center
total of about $7, Buck said.
What about men?
About half of men who have chlamydia show symptoms, and the damages caused by chlamydia tend to be less severe in males, according to the CDC.
If men do experience symptoms, they include urethral discharge, pain with urination and epididymitis, as reported in a handout from the American College Health Association.
The National Institutes of Health state that epididymitis is the inflammation of the epididymis, which is the tubular structure that connects the testicles with the vas deferens. It can lead to sterility.
Chlamydia typically causes urethral infection in men, according to the CDC.
Men do not have annual exams like women, so there is no way to routinely screen them for chlamydia, Buck said.
For men, doctors can do a urine test, Strother said.
Treatment for chlamydia is the same in males as in females.
'Knowledge is power'
It is the job of Melissa Smith and the other health educators at Watkins to make students more aware of this prevalent and dangerous disease.
Chlamydia is one of the four most common STDs the doctors at Watkins see, Buck said.
The most requested presentation the Watkins' health educators give is about sex and alcohol, Smith said. At these presentations health educators talk about chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections.
Kansas Chlamydia Cases, 2002
Rose-Mockry also said that
"There is still a lot of discomfort in students talking about those issues and asking for tests," she said.
The stigma attached to STDs often leads to students not being open to talk about them, said Kathy Rose-Mockry, program and associate director for the center.
"So many times students have the best intentions to be safe, but then alcohol gets involved," she said.
Between February 2002 and February 2003, the Watkins' Health Education Department conducted about 28 of these presentations, reaching more than 1,050 students, Smith said. The department also presented information about chlamydia prevention at its annual health fair, which attracted several hundred students, she said.
Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center works with Watkins to present programs on topics such as healthy relationships that lead to talking about STDs.
some women may not even know much about chlamydia and its silent symptoms.
"I think it's really important, when it can have such a profound affect on women's future health, to be aware," she said.
Because students hear information about STDs starting in junior high or high school, they often think they know all there is to know, and they think they would be able to distinguish if they had one, said Mary Ann Rasnak, director of the Student Development Center.
"I think students sort of have a false sense of information of their level of knowledge about these issues," she said.
Rasnak said she not only thinks students should be more open about these topics, but also thinks educators should talk about STDs more often.
"I think there's not enough open, honest, frank information about these issues available to students," she said.
The more students know about the symptoms and dangers
Neil Mulka/Kansan
SYMPTOMS Men
Urethral discharge
Pain with urination
Epididymitis
Women
Pain or dull aching from cervix.
Heavy feeling in pelvic area
Pain with urination or intercourse
Heavier menstrual flow
Breakthrough bleeding
Heavy cervical discharge
American College Health Association
of a disease, the better off they will be, she said.
"It's all a matter of keeping informed and not being afraid of being informed," she said. "The whole idea is 'knowledge is power.' If you have that power, you can prevent early on."
—Edited by Amber Byarlay
Get Out and Relax
KUSSHA is hosting our annual end of the year bash at Stone Creek on April 22, 2003 at 7:00pm
Join us for a night of fun, food, and lots of laughs.
Join us for a night of fun, food, and lots of laughs. KUSSHA will provide appetizers. Bring money for food and drinks. Stone Creek is located at 6th and Wakarusa. STUDENT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SENATE
- must be 21 to enter
20 SECONDS TO SPEAK YOUR MIND free for all 864-0500 KANSAN