Student Health is hosting its semi-annual free testing for sexually transmitted infections April 9 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. in Newcomb Hall’s Commonwealth Room. At the event — co-sponsored by the Virginia Department of Health and the University’s Ryan White Program — students can receive results from HIV tests within 15 minutes and chlamydia and gonorrhea tests within two weeks.
More than 700 students have visited Student Health for STI-related issues in the past two years. This event not only provides students the opportunity to learn their health status before any physical symptoms manifest, but also reinforces the importance of knowing your STI status before becoming sexually active with a new partner, said Jamie Leonard, director of the office of health promotion.
“It is an important time for a student to be able to talk with a provider, ask questions and analyze their own risks in order to make positive choices in the future,” she said.
Infection rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia among people aged 15-24 are four times higher than that of the general population, according to data compiled by the Center for Disease Control in 2011. And of the 20 million people in the United States diagnosed with an STI each year, more than half are aged 15-24 — including 70 percent of new gonorrhea cases and 63 percent of new chlamydia infections — according to a February report.
Preventative measures are the most important step in combating the spread of STIs, Leonard said.
“The best advice is to protect oneself from acquiring an STI in the first place,” she said. “Limiting the number of partners, consistently and correctly using condoms, and knowing a partner’s status are all strategies for protection.”
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