The number of chlamydia tests at Chico State has increased this year, according Chico State’s Student Health Center.
In the Student Health Service’s 2013-14 annual report, there were 1,436 tests for HIV and 3,768 test for chlamydia, which rose from about 3,500 tests in 2012-13.
Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease that can infect both men and women. It can cause serious, permanent damage to a woman’s reproductive system, making it difficult or impossible for her to get pregnant later on, according to the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention.
“The percentage of visits that were here for the sole purpose of an STI (sexually transmitted infections) screening was 8 percent and the raw data for that would be 1,716 visits,” said Jill Cannaday, a nursing supervisor.
The more testings there are, the less diseases there are in the community, she said.
“Just because we have more people that come in to get tested doesn’t mean that we have more STI’s in our community,” Cannaday said. “Usually the more testing there is eventually leads to less STI’s in our community and our students becoming more educated in safe sex.”
In 2013, Chico State had 113 positive cases of chlamydia for women and 57 positive cases of the disease for men, according to a California State University systemwide report. There were 2,782 tests given to women and 758 tests for men.
In 2013 there was a total of 925 cases of people who tested positive for chlamydia in Butte County according to the California Department of Health. Of those cases, 651 of them were female and 274 of them were male.
The top three sexually transmitted disease screenings at Chico State are for chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV.
You can do the following things to lower your chances of getting chlamydia, according to the CDC:
- Being in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and has negative STD test results;
- Using latex condoms the right way every time you have sex.
Daisy Dardon can be reached at [email protected] or @daisydardon on twitter.
