Posted on 09/06/2003 10:30:42 PM PDT by Destro
1 in 10 Female Army Recruits Has Chlamydia
Fri Sep 5, 7:03 PM ET
By Gary Gately
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDayNews) -- Almost one in 10 female U.S. Army recruits have tested positive for chlamydia, the nation's most common sexually transmitted disease.
And the prevalence of the disease among the female recruits increased during the 3 1/2-year study, researchers from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Army and the Defense Department report in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
The researchers conducted urine-based testing for chlamydia among 23,010 female Army recruits between January 1996 and June 1999. The recruits also answered questions about sexual history, presence or absence of symptoms, and prior history of sexually transmitted diseases.
The findings underscore the need for routine testing of female Army recruits to protect their health, says study author Charlotte Gaydos, an associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Army doesn't screen new recruits for the disease, but the Navy and Marines do, she adds.
"These rates are of great concern," Gaydos says. The incidence of chlamydia also provides "clear justification," she says, for screening of women entering the Army, treatment when necessary and periodic re-screening.
Chlamydia can be detected by a simple urine test and is cured easily with antibiotics. But the disease often goes unnoticed because most women who get it show no symptoms and screening is not routine, Gaydos says.
In fact, about 75 percent of American women and 50 percent of men with chlamydia have no symptoms, so they're unaware of their infections and therefore may not seek care, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) (CDC) has found.
"It's been called the silent disease; it just doesn't produce symptoms for the most part," Gaydos says.
The Hopkins researchers cite statistics showing 3 million to 4 million Americans are infected with chlamydia each year.
Chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women that can lead to scarring, infertility, tubal pregnancy and chronic pelvic pain. The CDC estimated in 2001 that up to 40 percent of women with untreated chlamydia would get pelvic inflammatory disease, and of those with the pelvic disease, 18 percent would have debilitating, chronic pelvic pain, and 9 percent, a life-threatening tubal pregnancy.
Gaydos says the study results also demonstrate the need for more chlamydia screening among the general population.
"Programs for screening and treating chlamydia infection have proven to be cost-effective, especially when compared to the health problems associated with untreated infections," she says.
The researchers found several factors associated with infection, including age (under 25), southern U.S. hometowns, more than one sex partner and a history of other sexually transmitted diseases.
Overall, 9.5 percent of the Army recruits tested positive for chlamydia, but the rate increased from 8.5 percent at the start of the study to 9.9 percent at the end, the researchers say.
Dr. Kimberly Yarnall, an associate clinical professor in the department of community and family medicine at Duke University Medical Center, says young women should ask to be tested for chlamydia.
But Yarnall says many sexually active young women mistakenly believe they're not at risk for sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia.
"There's a huge disconnect here. They're not getting the fact that they are at risk, and they're not taking measures to protect themselves," Yarnall says.
She points to a study published in the August issue of Preventive Medicine. Yarnall and other researchers surveyed 1,210 women -- students and non-students between 18 and 25 -- and found 61 percent of non-students and 56 percent of students had unprotected sex within the past three months.
Yet, more than three-quarters of all the women surveyed believed they were at low risk for contracting a sexually transmitted disease in the next year.
Awareness about sexually transmitted diseases has declined in recent years, Yarnall says. "I think people get lulled into thinking, 'Oh, it's not going to be a problem, or I'm not going to get it, or it's easily curable,'" she says.
Gaydos says more public awareness would lead to more chlamydia screening.
"If we had more public-awareness campaigns," she says, "we'd have more women and men going in and saying, 'I'm sexually active, can I be screened?"
A future study will likey fine... "9 in 10 Male Army Recruits has Chlamydia"
The study's authors made recommendations for the Army, which presently does not test its recruits for this disease (unlike the other services), for public health pros, and for society in general.
I don't think the Army was singled out for opprobrium. If you want to do a study with a sample of 20,000 randomly selected girls, that requires you to collect and test medical samples, it seems like the Army is one of the best places to go. (Your sample will not match the general population because the Army takes only a narrow subset of society in. But you will be able to draw some useful conclusions).
After all, it's not like it's the Army sending infected people out into society, it's the other way round!
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
LOL
I remember back in the good ole days, when you had to ask the pharmacist for them, sneaking up to the counter an whispering , " trojans please".
His reply in a booming voice for all to hear. "Wet or Dry".
Gulp
Now you throw them on the counter and a high school girl rings them up, all the while thinking, " he ought to try the ribbed, those are the ones I like".
Almost one in 10 female U.S. Army recruits have tested positive for chlamydia, the nation's most common sexually transmitted disease.
The numbers seem to reflect the general population:
"As many as 1 in 10 adolescent girls tested for chlamydia is infected.
Based on reports to CDC provided by states that collect age-specific data, teenage girls have the highest rates of chlamydial infection. In these states, 15- to 19-year-old girls represent 46% of infections and 20- to 24-year-old women represent another 33%. These high percentages are consistent with high rates of other STDs among teenagers.
Among women entering the Job Corps in 1997, chlamydia rates ranged from 4 - 14% by state (20,000 entrants are screened annually). Chlamydial infection is widespread geographically and highly prevalent among these economically disadvantaged young women between 16 and 24 years old."
This girl was one of the most impressive people I have ever met. She was a devout Christian and ended up being a missionary.
We noticed a steady stream of boys visiting her. She broke down one day and told my Wife that she could not stop having sex.
I remember when we were in high school. There were a few people having sex but most were not. My best friend was the most popular boy on campus. He was handsome and a star athlete. He tried constantly to get girlfriends to go all the way and never succeeded.
What an amazing change in society in 50 years.
It's like, "I didn't really come here to buy condoms, but I saw you were running a sale, so ...."
and ended up being a missionary
There's a joke there, but I'm not going to tell it...
Despite being strikingly beautiful she is still not married and I suspect never will. It is a shame because if she had got married at 18 and just raised a family, she would have been much better off.
They're saying the high schools here have an epidemic of chlamydia --- maybe some of the girls are lucky they're having their babies now while still in high school an they still have their fertility.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.