Most people don't have a clue

Many people infected with Chlamydia don't even know they have it or that they've been passing it on.

It’s the gift from a sexual partner that you don’t want to get: a sexually transmitted infection.

Nurses and doctors with Public Health Services (Capital Health) are concerned about the growing numbers of young people contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), Chlamydia in particular.

In Canada, the highest rates and increases in STIs are in young people, ages 15 to 24. Nova Scotia beats the national average for Chlamydia, with 189 confirmed cases per 100,000. But, say team members with Public Health’s Communicable Disease Control Program, the numbers are likely to be much, much higher, especially in metro Halifax.

“That’s only the tip of the iceberg,” says Ruth Fox, a nurse with the Communicable Disease Control Program. “How many people are walking around who haven’t seen their doctor because they have no symptoms?”

The numbers have been climbing since the 1990s. Ms. Fox believes it’s because people have gotten complacent about using condoms during sex—believing they’re unlikely to contract sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS or syphilis. Besides the surge in Chlamydia numbers over the past decade, that complacency led to an outbreak of syphilis in 2003. “It was like a brand new disease,” she says. “We hadn’t seen it in years.”

A bacterial infection transmitted through seminal or vaginal fluids, Chlamydia is both preventable and treatable with one dose of antibiotics. But left untreated and it can lead to serious health problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease in women and infertility in women and men.

The wrinkle is that those infected with Chlamydia may not even know they have it or that they’re passing it on. Chlamydia has some symptoms associated with it, but not everyone experiences them. In women, those symptoms may include a change or an increase in vaginal discharge, irregular bleeding between periods and pain during urination. Men may also feel burning during urination and unusual discharge from the penis.

“Unless it happens to them, most young people don’t think it’s a problem,” says Maureen Flick, a youth health centre coordinator based at Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth. “But it can easily happen to them, and not only that, it can come from someone they trusted and thought was really nice.”

Renown for passing out condoms wherever she goes, Ms. Flick says the message that needs to be reinforced among high school and university students is that if you’re having sex (whether vaginal, anal or oral), make sure it’s safe sex. Use condoms or a dental dam or both. Thoroughly clean sex toys after use. And, if you’re sexually active, get yourself tested for STIs.

Tests for STIs are available from your family doctor, Dalhousie Health Services and the Halifax Sexual Health Centre (formerly Planned Parenthood) on Quinpool Road. Or call Public Health Services at 481-5800 and ask to talk to the Communicable Disease Control nurse.