Over 8T positive for STDs in 2010, Cebu City tests show
-A A +ASaturday, March 26, 2011
AT LEAST 8,000 persons in Cebu City were found positive for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) last year.
Most of them were women who worked as commercial sex workers (CSW) and entertainers in nightclubs, bars and beer joints.
A report from City Health Department showed that of the 42,353 men and women it examined at the Social Hygiene Clinic last year, 20 percent or 8,471 were positive of different kinds of diseases acquired through sex.
About 4,061 females and 107 males were examined but found to have non-specific infections, while 1,187 women had bacterial vaginosis.
At least 177 females and 72 males were afflicted with gonorrhea and the rest suffered from trichomoniasis, genital warts, herpes, syphilis, hepatitis B and parasites, among others.
Dr. Ilya Tac-an, STD/HIV/AIDS coordinator, said the non-specific infections might be chlamydia but they don’t have the capability to confirm that kind of disease.
All their clients were treated right after they were found to have STDs, the doctor said.
Viral infections such as genital warts and herpes can be cauterized but the lesion remain and may appear again, she said.
She explained the figures were based on the visits and not the number of persons examined, so there’s a chance the actual number of afflicted persons is lower.
However, the figures also do not include an unknown number of CSWs who do not visit the City Health Office for check-ups.
Tac-an advised them to visit City Health so that STDs can be detected and treated, and other infections can be prevented.
But the only way to stay away from STD, she said, is to avoid sex, to be faithful to one partner and to use protection if sex with other partners cannot be prevented.
Condoms cannot protect against STDs that are spread through skin-to-skin contact, such as genital warts and herpes.
The STD/HIV/AIDS coordinator said that in their registry last year, the city had 2,270 CSWs who were being constantly monitored.
From January to the third of week of March this year, at least 14 persons with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) were recorded. One person with Aids died last month.
Last year, the City Health Department reported more than 80 persons with HIV in the first quarter alone.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on March 26, 2011.
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