April is STD Awareness Month Take Control. Get the Facts. Get Tested.

There are nearly 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the U.S. each year, but obvious symptoms often don’t develop and many people who contract an STD are unaware they and there partners are at risk. With this in mind the Knox County Health Department recognizes April as National STD Awareness Month, and emphasizes testing as a key component for sexual health.

“We encourage anyone who is sexually active to discuss testing for HIV and other STDs with their health care provider, even if they have no symptoms,” Laura Fullerton, Director of Chronic Disease and Clinical Services, who explains that the most commonly reported bacterial STD, Chlamydia, often doesn’t cause symptoms in women (and sometimes men) but when undetected in women the infection can spread to the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). If untreated, PID can lead to chronic pelvic pain and infertility.

In addition to testing, Fullerton encourages partners to talk about sexual health, and this includes discussing safer sex practices such as condom use. “Condoms have proven value in reducing transmission of Chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV and other STDs,” Fullerton says, and notes that condom use is also associated with lower incidence of cervical cancer.

While STDs are common across all groups, young people are hit especially hard: Approximately half of all new STDs occur in youth ages 15-24 and a recent study presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that 1 in 4 girls and young women between the ages of 14 and 19 have at least one of the more common STDs.
Despite the fact that a great deal of progress has been made in STD prevention in the past two decades, the United States has the highest rates of STDs in the industrialized world. Locally, Knox County’s rate of infection for gonorrhea and Chlamydia has increased dramatically since 2001. Knox County’s case rate of Chlamydia ranks 18th highest in Illinois; the case rate for gonorrhea ranks 13th highest. A majority of these infections are in the age range of 20-29 years.