getSTDtested.com, a physician driven, STD testing and treatment online clinic today announced a campaign called "Kiss Chlamydia Goodbye" to encourage young women to take action to prevent chlamydia.
Chlamydia is an infection that is easy to diagnose and readily cured with antibiotic treatment. The campaign to "Kiss Chlamydia Goodbye" responds to a call to action by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force that all sexually active females 24-years of age and younger should be screened annually.
Chlamydia infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease, responsible for a record 1.1 million cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007. CDC experts estimate that twice that many cases go undetected. Left untreated, chlamydia can cause infertility or potentially fatal ectopic pregnancies. But many women aren't aware they are exposed until years later when they try to have a baby and may run into problems.
Through February 28, getSTDtested.com is offering 18-24-year-old females and their partners a $20.00 discount for testing and treatment services by visiting KissChlamydiaGoodbye.com. The chlamydia test is conducted with a urine sample collected in home or at a convenient service center and then tested at the nation's leading diagnostic laboratory. For individuals with positive results, physicians provide counsel and treat inexpensively with antibiotics.
"Our site, getSTDtested.com, launched last May. Since then, chlamydia has become one of the top three requested tests on the site. There is definitely a need for more screening when nearly 58% of young women in the U.S. are not doing so. It only requires a simple urine test. getSTDtested.com has physician counselors available to discuss the results if desired," says Tracey Powell, CEO of getSTDtested.com.
Today there are 17 million students enrolled in college, 9.9 million of which are females between 18-24 years old. Many don't think to ask about chlamydia because there are few symptoms. The majority of young women do not know their chlamydia status. The Partnership for Prevention reported last year that the chlamydia screening rate was 41.6 percent in 2007. Testing is available at some campus clinics, yet many students do not always want to use these services. Additionally, many campuses don't have clinic services available.
The National Chlamydia Coalition suggests numerous reasons why young adults should get tested:
- Chlamydia is extremely common with 9.7% of freshman college students infected and there are three million new cases annually
- Chlamydia facilitates transmission of HIV in both males and females
- 40% of untreated chlamydia infections lead to inflammatory disease and 20% of these cases lead to infertility
- Chlamydia is readily and inexpensively treated with antibiotics
Couples can learn from one young woman's story that is featured in the short movie, "The O Mission," sponsored by getSTDtested.com. A college-age rock singer at risk for chlamydia goes online for health information, as 51% of adults 18-64 years do in a year. There, she and many of her peers are comfortable searching for answers. She gets expert advice at getSTDtested.com's online forum and is provided convenient access to physician-connected testing and counseling services.
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