Private MD News

Chlamydia detected in 1 out of 10 high school students

Category: Chlamydia

A high school in Michigan reported that one out of every 10 students who participated in STD tests was found to have chlamydia.

Earlier this year, the health department received a state grant aimed at testing at least 150 people between the ages of 15 and 24 for common STDs, the Muskegon Chronicle reports. Of 136 students tested at Muskegon High School, 13 tests came back positive for chlamydia, while 21 positive tests emerged from the complete state pool of 202 young people.

When comprehensive tests were administered in 2008, health officials found that Michigan had 46,555 cases of the STD, with 77 percent of the cases occurring in people under 24 years old.

Kenneth Kraus, director of public health in Muskegon County told the news source, "School nurses had been telling us for a couple years that the attitude with kids is different than it used to be. They're much more open about having an infection and getting treatment."

Officers from the health department wanted to target young men as a demographic to screen, as they typically don't experience obvious symptoms. When they spread the infection to women, however, chlamydia may cause pelvic inflammatory disease or infertility.

AVERT, an international charity aimed at educating the public on STDs indicates that reported cases of chlamydia have increased more than 40 percent since 2001.