STD Chlamydia hits record high; spread through nonintercourse sexual activity which means condoms won't prevent it.

It was recently reported that chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease, has reached record highs. It was estimated that there were 1.1 million cases in 2007. Chlamydia can lead to infertility among women.

According to an AP story

Sexually transmitted diseases - for years on the decline - are on the rise, with reported chlamydia cases setting a record, government health officials said yesterday.

The increase in chlamydia, a sometimes symptomless infection that can lead to infertility in women, is likely because of better screening, experts said. In 2007, there were 1.1 million cases, the most ever reported, said officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thousands of women become infertile each year because of untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea infections, said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr., director of CDC's Division of STD Prevention.

Syphilis cases, which number only in the thousands, also rose modestly, while the number of gonorrhea cases remained roughly the same. Syphilis can kill, if left untreated, but chlamydia and gonorrhea are not life-threatening.

Chlamydia can infect men as well as women, but rates are nearly three times higher for women. That's at least partly due to 1993 federal recommendations that emphasize testing for sexually active women age 25 and under. That emphasized screening in recent years is no doubt driving the record numbers, said Dr. Jonathan Zenilman, a professor of infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The issue with chlamydia is the more [you] test, the more you'll find," Zenilman said.

The latest numbers translate to a rate of 370 cases per 100,000 people in 2007, up 7.5 percent from 2006.

The reported cases are just part of the picture. Health officials believe as many as 2.8 million Americans may have chlamydia. Many men and women have no symptoms from it. Some women experience pain in their lower abdomen or notice a burning sensation or a pus-like discharge when they urinate. Some men may also feel a burning during urination or have a discharge.

Gonorrhea cases appear to have plateaued and are currently at about 356,000 cases. Syphilis was on the verge of being eliminated in the United States about 10 years ago, but lately has been inching up. More than 11,000 new cases of the most contagious form of the disease were reported in 2007.

Syphilis is relatively rare but has become a growing threat, particularly for gay and bisexual men, who accounted for about 65 percent of the 2007 cases.

What's interesting about chlamydia is it can be spread through non-intercourse sexual activity. This of course means condoms aren't the answer from a prevention standpoint and are dangerous because they provide people with a false sense of security.

Of course, I'm sure condom advocates are already saying abstinence won't work we need more condoms. This view is an excellent example of ideology overriding reality. The problem is reality always wins.

Chlamydia cases up, must be due to abstinence education, condom advocates will no doubt say

"More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year, the most ever for a sexually transmitted disease, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said." was the first line from a news story earlier this week in the Seattle Times.

I can already hear what the condom and contraceptive proponents will say, "It's due to abstinence education! Kids need more condoms!"

That may sound over the top but I doubt it. Every time there's more bad news about teen pregnancy and STDs, the comprehensive sex ed crowd says it's due to abstinence education. It shows how desperate they're getting and how they are utterly driven by ideology.

I recollect that chlamydia is also spread through non-intercourse sexual activity which only reaffirms "abstinence until marriage" as the right sex education message for teenagers.

"Responsible family life and sexuality education" provisions in HF 6 unhealthy to children

MFC Press Release

Group exposes unhealthy implications of “Responsible family life and sexuality education” provisions in HF 6

Group says teaching children to use dental dams for anal-oral sex is just one of several unhealthy activities contributing to rise in STD’s.

MINNEAPOLIS – Drawing a parallel between a recent study citing a two-fold rise in Chlamydia and sex education curricula used in public schools, a group of parents and students exposed the unhealthy activities taught to students and called upon the legislature to remove the sex education provisions from House File 6.

Barb Anderson identified three sex education curricula used in public schools including Reducing the Risk, Safer Choices, and The Educators’ Guide to Reproductive Health by the Birds & Bees Project.

“In the Birds & Bees Project guide for educators, as well as in their teen brochures, students ages 15 and up learn how to make dental dams “for oral sex on the vulva or the anus,” said Anderson. “This is unfit in a public school setting and is giving young people sexual options that are unhealthy and life threatening – opening more children up to disease.”

“Where is the scientific evidence that anal sex or oral-anal contact taught in comprehensive sex education materials is healthy? There is none. Kids who practice oral sex are now getting STDs in their mouth, throat and tonsils. Rimming and anal sex provide a vast opportunity for a whole host of sexually transmitted diseases. More and more children are being put at risk with this kind of teaching,” said Anderson.

Gayla Bell, a parent in the Eden Prairie School District presented research that the unhealthy curricula was on display and promoted at the Minnesota School Health Education Conference. “The graphic and unhealthy detail of these curricula is harmful to our children, said Bell. “Giving multiple sexual options to kids, including oral, anal sex and ‘rimming,’ will further spread disease amongst our youth. Condoms and dental dams do not make oral and anal sex healthy or safe,” she said.