News
Statistics: Chlamydia, gonorrhea on the rise
The number of cases for two sexually transmitted diseases — chlamydia and gonorrhea — are on the rise in the community, according to recent statistics from the Bear River Health Department.
To help combat the STDs, the department, along with the Utah State University Student Health and Wellness Center, will administer free tests Sept. 18-22.
Those in the medical field attribute the increase to both better testing and more casual sex.
“Part of the increase in numbers is due to new forms of testing, which are less invasive and less painful,” said Dr. Jim Davis, director of the center. “And part of it is an increase in the actual number of cases.”
For the 2005-06 fiscal year, the Health Department reported 209 cases (70 percent female), a nearly 70 percent increase from 125 cases the previous year. Cases of gonorrhea more than doubled, from 10 to 27 in the last fiscal year.
Davis noted that Cache Valley is seeing “more cases than expected” in part due to changing demographics. He recommends those who have symptoms of pain with urination or discharge in the genital area, people who suspect their partners have had the diseases, or anyone who knows they have been exposed consider getting tested.
LaPriel Clark, nursing director for the Bear River Health Department, said that in many instances, carriers of the STDs may not display any symptoms at all, adding it can be “hard to get people motivated to come in.”
Offering the tests for free — via a grant the state received from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — should help, according to Davis.
“I don’t expect that we’ll see parades of people coming in to be tested, but I do think it removes the financial barrier and should open the door to broader testing,” he said.
The Health Department has ordered 100 kits from the state and can get more if necessary.
“The state will sometimes give us free testing, but we’ve never been able to do it to this magnitude before,” Clark said. “Maybe more people will come in and get tested.”