UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Wednesday, August 23, 1995
5A
Med Center studying new chlamydia test
Kansan staff writer
By Dan Lara
The University of Kansas Medical Center is one of eight sites field testing a new urine test for women who may have chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease.
Kevin Ault, a gynecologist and specialist in infectious diseases at the Med Center, directs the study, which is screening 400 women at Planned Parenthood in Kansas City, Mo., and the Family Guidance Center in St. Joseph, Mo.
"The study has been going pretty well," Ault said. "We've enrolled 100 women so far. We chose those two locations because they have a pretty diverse group of women."
The urine test is being developed by Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, Ill.
The conventional test for chlamydia
requires a pelvic exam and swab from inside the cervix. This test detects chlamydia about 85 percent of the time, Ault said.
But the accuracy of the urine test is 94 percent, according to preliminary data published in Lancet, a British medical journal.
Seventy-five percent of women who have chlamydia don't show symptoms, and that's one reason the urine test is being developed. Ault said. A urine test for chlamydia in men was developed about two years ago.
"Women bear the brunt of the disease," Ault said. "The problem with chlamydia is that it has a finicky lifestyle. It's difficult to detect. It's difficult to grow in a lab. This technology is an advancement."
About 4 million cases of chlamydia occur annually in the United States, according to a Med Center news release.
Henry Buck Jr., a gynecologist at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that the new test would be helpful if it detected chlamydia in women who didn't show symptoms.
The total co-t of treating the illness exceeds $5 billion and is responsible for 30 percent of infertility cases worldwide.
"I think there has been a tremendous change in testing in the last two or three years," he said. "Our figures at KU have come down, and they have come down nationally."
Three percent of all women tested for chlamydia were positive at the national level, Buck said.
At KU, the level was less than two percent.
The urine test is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration, Ault said.
Murphy Hall is alive with the sound of music thanks to $611,000 worth of pianos and keyboards loaned free of charge to KU's music department.
"This is the single biggest improvement in terms of number and quality of instruments that any of us can remember," said Steve Anderson, chairman of the music and dance department.
Murphy Hall receives gift of music
By Phillip Brownlee Kansan staff writer
This summer, 20 grand pianos, 12 uprights and 14 electronic keyboards were delivered to Murphy Hall as part of a no-cost lease that was arranged with the Yamaha Piano Corp. and the Jenkins Music Company of Kansas City, Mo.
Under the contract, Yamaha Piano Corp. and Jenkins Music Company will provide the music department with new pianos each summer for the next four years. At the end of each of those school years, the pianos loaned that year will be taken back and sold as used equipment by the two companies.
"It's a win-win situation," said Joe Defio, school program coordinator at Jenkins Music Company. "The University gets the use of the planos, and our planos get used by potential customers."
Prior to receiving the new pianos, students often had trouble finding an available practice piano that was in good condition.
"I've played on pianos with missing keys and missing pedals," said Lisa Overholser, Kansas City, Mo., graduate student.
"They were built to last," he said. "But when they're played 16 hours a day, they can't last forever."
Jack Winerock, professor of piano, said that the average age of the department's old pianos was 40-50 years old.
The new grand pianos cost from $16,500 to $29,000 brand new, and the uprights sell for about $6,000 apiece.
Three of the new pianos are equipped with built-in computers that can record and play back music, similar to a player piano.
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