Get Tested for Chlamydia: STDs on the Rise in New Brunswick

The numbers are alarming. New Brunswick health officials are very concerned that the number of reported cases of chlamydia among young people has increased for as much as 10% in a period of over the past few years. Here are the Chlamydia infection numbers. The most recent numbers show that as much as 1500 young people between the ages of 15 and 29 in the area of New Brunswick are infected with Chlamydia.

Dr. Paul Van Buynder, the province's deputy chief medical officer of health, said that the numbers are the highest in the group of 20 to 24 years old. He says the numbers are very alarming, and that they (teens, young adults) are just not listening, and it's a personal tragedy for a lot of them. Additionally, it is estimated that the rates of Chlamydia, which is the most common sexually transmitted sexual disease continues to climb every year in people between ages of 15 to 29. This is the case with other sexually transmitted diseases too. The most worrying is the fact that Chlamydia presents no symptoms in young women, although a very simple test is available for the disease, and the test for Chlamydia can be done at doctor's office or at most of the clinics. And the most alarming is the fact that is Chlamydia goes untreated, the results can be devastating, and can result in infertility.

Perhaps young people don't think about consequences like this because they are not trying to conceive at the moment, but the fact is infertility can have a devastating effect on them and their partners later in lives. Therefore it is essential young people listen to the safe sex messages and use condom to stop the spread of STDs, if they are changing partners, or not. More safe sex campaigns should be set in schools, and especially at the universities. Health departments are often undertaking campaigns at bars passing out condoms, but Van Buynder said it seems the message still isn't getting through. For young people it is not a option to abstain from sex, and if this is the case, they should use a condom. And not only that: (young) women should get regular pap smears, and people in general should get tested for sexually transmitted diseases, such as Chlamydia infection.

Kids have sex. No matter how much information is given to them about the hazards... they are still going to do it. The problem is the parents are relying on education and community services to parent their children. Parents should be educating their children, not the state.