CHLAMYDIA

CITIZENLINK - October 26, 2001
Chlamydia: The Unseen Epidemic
By Terry Phillips

SUMMARY: A new study reveals just how harmful, and stealthy, the sexually transmitted disease can be.

Untreated, the sexually transmitted disease (STD) known as chlamydia can leave a woman unable to ever have children. Now, a British study is reporting that 70% of a test group of sexually active young women had suffered reproductive damage from chlamydia and didn't even know they had the disease.

The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, based in Austin, Texas, has issued an advisory on that "stealth" factor - a factor that Dr. Curtis Stine thinks makes chlamydia especially devastating. "(Since) many people don't know they're infected, (they also) don't know the disease has spread, (and) many people don't know that their internal reproductive organs have been damaged," Stine said.

According to Shepherd Smith, president of the Institute for Youth Development, chlamydia is just one of many STDs lying in wait for sexually active singles. "We have a catastrophe on our hands of sexually transmitted diseases," Smith said. "Years ago, there were only two STDs out there ... and they were curable. Today, there are about twenty-five, many are not curable. You don't get a second chance once you acquire these diseases. They stay with you."

Paula Cullen, executive director of the group, Life Services, noted that condoms are not the solution to sexually transmitted diseases. "The evidence is increasing that for some STDs, such as chlamydia and HPV (human papilloma virus), the use of a condom is virtually insignificant as far as even reducing the risk, let alone eliminating it," Cullen said.

The experts warned that the only guaranteed way to eliminate the chance of STDs is to remain abstinent until entering a monogamous, married relationship. Studies indicate that young people think they're invulnerable when it comes to risky behavior. The threat exists almost equally between the suburbs, rural communities and inner cities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: To read the advisory on chlamydia from the Medical Institute of Sexual Health, see the group's Web site: http://www.medinstitute.org/medical/index.htm