Public Health Reports Rise in STDs

Source: Public Health Department of Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County, the state of California, and the entire country are experiencing increases in sexually transmitted diseases (STD) including gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia. April is STD Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about STDs and a time to take action to protect your own health and the health of those around you. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department is calling on individuals and healthcare providers to Talk, Test, and Treat as actions to help reduce the incidence of STDs.

Individuals can:

• Talk openly with partners and healthcare providers about sex and STDs.
• Get tested for STDs including HIV testing. Because many STDs have no symptoms, getting tested is the only way to know for sure if you have an infection.
• If you test positive for an STD, work with your healthcare provider to get the proper treatment. Some STDs can be cured with the right medication. Those that aren’t curable can be treated.

Providers can:

• Talk with patients about sexual health and safe sex practices.
• Test patients as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Follow CDC’s STD Treatment Guidelines to make sure patients get successful treatment and care.

It is important to recognize that STDs are preventable and that undiagnosed and untreated STDs can cause many harmful, often irreversible, and costly clinical complications such as reproductive health problems, cancer, and transmission of HIV infection. For more information, please visit the Santa Barbara County Disease Control website at www.sbcphd.org/dcp.