Clinton County records a spike in STD

However, there has been STD spike in Clinton county compared to 2017 where there was a 175% increase in gonorrhea cases, 33% increase in syphilis and 13 % rise in chlamydia rates. According to the Center of Disease Control, the high rise of STDs is in women, infants, gays and the bisexual men.

 Three –Prong Approach

This includes prevention, screening and treatment procedures to reduce infection rates. For STIs the patient may present with symptoms or without them while for STDs the patient show very conspicuous symptoms of attack. In that regard, routine screening and testing is required to eliminate cases of false positive and false negative. The “I” versus “D” germs are used to ascertain this.

  • Gonorrhea

Some gonorrhea strains may be resistant to antibiotics and therefore testing is necessary. Continued test after first analysis is relevant regardless of positive or negative results to ascertain the accuracy of results. Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection and can present in vagina, penis, throat and rectum. It is important to therefore carry out tests using swabs from all those regions. For the bisexuals and gays, tests have been done though elsewhere on rectal, penile and throat swabs. Although gonorrhea is mostly found in men, in Clinton county women have also been diagnosed with it.

LaBombard exclaims that the age –range does not clarify the disease transmission since at times only four cases were recorded last year and ten cases this year.

Untreated gonorrhea may lead to sterility and inflammation of genitalia among others. The symptoms are abnormal manor women genital discharges, painful urination, fatigue and feeling run down.

  • Syphilis

Also bacterial infection and it’s almost a lifetime condition since it is hard to eliminate it. Usually treated with multiple shots i.e. three doses where one dose is administered every week for the three weeks. They are very strong antibiotics.

This infection is very ugly and painful and should be routinely tested. In pregnant women, transmission would lead to congenital syphilis where the fetuses born may never function properly mentally in the future.

Most prevalent among the gays and bisexuals and may be a co-infection with HIV/AIDS.

  • Chlamydia

It is a bacterial infection which is prevalent in youths, of age 15-24 years. It is also among college students. Women and men can be asymptomatic as shown after screening by medical professionals. It is advised that infected people bring their partners too for screening or private STD testing if they are shy.

Treatment is done using antibiotics administered orally. If left untreated infertility, pelvic inflammatory diseases may result.

 Prevention of STDs 

  • Indulge in protected sex-use condoms and dental gums
  • Avoid multiple sex partners
  • Avoid anonymous, unprotected sex
  • Regular screening and testing
  • Awareness through outreach programs e.g. Facebook posts and free –condom program
  • Education on the advised lifestyles

Be on the safe side by taking the courageous step to receive a private STD testing.

Contributor: admin