Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can affect both men and women.
Besides HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhea are the most prevalent communicable diseases in the CNMI.
John Dax Moreno, Department of Public Health communicable diseases manager, said in 2009, the CNMI had 203 cases of chlamydia.
But Moreno said they do not have a strong base figure for the testing in the CNMI.
He said usually, it’s the females who get tested when they come in for gynecological or prenatal examinations.
He said men rarely go in for examinations unless it’s an emergency.
Moreno said chlamydia is a silent disease because 60 percent of the people who are infected with it will experience no symptoms.
“This is the sad thing about this disease because you will not feel anything and will not know that you already have it,” Moreno said.
Chlamydia can lead to many complications including infertility.
“The high average of chlamydia cases per year in the CNMI is a really big problem because when people are infected with it, or other STD, it’s easier for HIV to step in and infect the person,” Moreno said.
“With 29 reported HIV positive cases and hundreds of persons infected with chlamydia each year, we have an HIV epidemic in our hands,” he said.
Test kits available soon
Moreno said that urine based screen tests called Aptima from Gen-Probe will soon be available here.
Moreno said lack of funding has prevented the department from conducting laboratory tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea here.
“We have to send the samples to Hawaii for testing and wait for about two weeks to get the result,” Moreno said.
Now, with the availability of Aptima, testing can be done here for free and with fast results. Clients pay about $120 for chlamydia and gonorrhea screening before.
Moreno said they are hoping to have at least a hundred Aptima test kits from the Centers for Disease Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the end of this month and this will be available for free at three pilot centers — at the Commonwealth Health Center, the HIV/STD Prevention Program office on Navy Hill, and the Adolescent Health Clinic at Marianas High School.
“As soon as we have the initial test kits, we will work on getting test kits for Tinian and Rota,” Moreno said.
The Aptima test kits can be administered by the patients themselves.
Moreno said clients can collect a sample of their urine and do the test at the laboratory or in the restroom.
“Clients who go in for chlamydia or gonorrhea testing will no longer have to go through the uncomfortable swabbing from the cervix or male urethra and wait for weeks before they get the results with the Aptima test kits,” Moreno said.
