Much like the warnings inscribed on the packaging of contraceptives, practitioners also caution students that testing doesn’t guarantee a clean bill of sexual health.
Of the 1,741 students who visited Campus Care to seek testing for HIV, syphilis, trichomoniasis, chlamydia and gonorrhea, 120 tests returned positive, according to Campus Care records, which documented tests from July 2011 through the end of June 2012.
However, the tests do not guarantee that those who tested negative are in the clear, said Krista Duval, a provider at the student health center.
“I think that people believe they can just have these test runs and know 100 percent that they’re fine,” Duval said. “That’s something that I emphasize with patients is that there is no test (that is 100 percent).”
She added that a common misconception for college-age students is a false sense of security after getting tested.
Testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea, both of which are detected using the same method, were requested most by students, with 1,149 tests requested from July 2011 through the end of June 2012, according to records.
With 112 positive tests, chlamydia was the most commonly diagnosed STI, according to records.
Nationwide, chlamydia infects about one in every 12 people between the ages of 19 and 26, Duval said, adding that on Ohio University’s campus, it infects about one in every 10 students.
She said chlamydia can result in problems with pregnancy later in life. It is treated using an antibiotic.
“We usually give four pills that they take all at once, and that’s the whole treatment,” Duval said. “And then any partners have to be treated as well and have to abstain from sex for seven days.”
She said treating gonorrhea, the second-most tested STI, requires a one-time injection and seven-day antibiotic.
Of the 380 HIV tests and 137 syphilis tests that were administered at the center, none returned positive, according to the records. Of the 75 tests for trichomoniasis, three returned positive.
Records showing the number of herpes tests that were administered were not readily available.
When a patient tests for herpes, both the herpes simplex virus type one and type two — oral and genital herpes, respectively — produce a positive herpes test. Tonya Burdette, director at Campus Care, said she did not feel comfortable releasing the information because it is difficult to differentiate between tests that returned positive for the oral STI and those that were positive for the genital STI.
“If you have herpes on your mouth, let’s say cold sores, that will show up in the blood work,” Burdette said of the herpes test.
Hannah Hiser, a sophomore who has yet to declare a major, said that alongside the security STI testing can provide students who test negative, it can also prevent others who don’t want to tend to the residual effects of an STI diagnosis from getting tested.
“People know about (testing),” Hiser said. “They just don’t want to have to deal with it and come to face the realizations that they have to.”
sg409809@ohiou.edu
