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Chlamydia testing recommended to prevent permanent damageThe sexually transmitted disease (STD) Chlamydia is a silent disease in more than one way: people don’t like to talk about it and it often has no symptoms until the disease has progressed to a point where it can do permanent damage to a body. Although it isn’t a pleasant topic, it is one that cannot be ignored especially as reports have circulated the news media recently that the numbers are on the rise. Chlamydia is the most common STD and the occurrence of the disease has more than doubled in the last 10 years in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The good news is, Chlamydia is a “totally curable disease,” if caught before it spreads to the cervix, according to New Ulm Medical Center Family Practice physician Frani Knowles, MD. She and her New Ulm physician partners have adopted a goal that has been promoted by Allina Hospitals and Clinics, New Ulm Medical Center’s parent company, to provide a Chlamydia screening test on at least 80 percent of the sexually active 16 to 25 year-old-women who come to the clinic for an annual checkup. The 16 to 25-year-old age group is at high risk for Chlamydia infection and may not realize the repercussions of the disease. It can sometimes stay in an infected person’s system for years before symptoms appear. By then, it may be too late to reverse the negative impact. Long term effects of the untreated infection can include chronic pelvic pain, infertility and ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Also, a person infected with Chlamydia has a three to five times greater risk of HIV infection when exposed to that virus. A woman with Chlamydia who gives birth may also pass along the infection to the baby during childbirth. The infection may affect the baby’s vocal chords or respiratory tract. “The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that all sexually active women between the ages of 16 to 25 be screened annually,” Knowles said. As part of the goal, which was implemented at the beginning of 2006, any sexually active woman between the ages of 16 to 25 coming in to the medical center for a pap smear is asked for permission to perform the Chlamydia screening test on them. “So far, I have had nobody refuse the test or even question it. It makes it easier that we are performing the test across the board for this age group,” Knowles said. Through this routine screening there have been several patients who have tested positive for Chlamydia and been treated who may not otherwise have known that they carried the infection because of its silent nature. “A lot of people like to think that we are safe in small town Minnesota, but the rates are no different here than in the rest of the country,” Knowles said. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, Chlamydia is the most commonly reported communicable disease in Minnesota and incidence of it has more than doubled from 115 to 263 per 100,000 persons in the state between 1996 and 2006. The rates almost tripled among men and more than doubled among women. Communication with sexual partners who may have been infected is important in stopping the cycle of recurrence of the infection, Knowles stressed. Although it isn’t a pleasant topic, a woman who has tested positive needs to let her current partner know so he can be tested, too. “Otherwise she’ll just end up being infected again,” Knowles said. If a woman doesn’t feel comfortable contacting former partners who may be infected, there is a solution available. “If a woman is tested positive for Chlamydia and doesn’t want to contact an old boyfriend, the Minnesota Department of Health will contact them while maintaining the patient’s anonymity,” Knowles said. Common sense steps such as being in a monogamous relationship and using protection during intercourse can go a long ways towards preventing the infection. |
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New Ulm Medical Center
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