Living here in rural America I was a bit surprised to learn that currently, about 18,000 U.S. schools have health centers inside their walls. These health centers provide confidential physical and mental health services to students who want them in junior high and high schools. Most of these clinics are operated by either a local hospital, health department, or other community health center. A study was recently conducted on the centers that currently treat girls who have chlamydia infection, counsel girls on how to decrease their risk of acquiring STDs, supply them with condoms, and notify the girls' partners that they should be tested for a STD. Parents of the students do not need to be notified of their child’s services.

As an adoptive parent, I worry that this encourages lying or at least deceptive behavior in these confusing years. Of course, I realize that the alternative might be the child not getting treatment because of fearing parental discipline or anger. Some STDs can be easily treated with antibiotics in their early stages. However, when left untreated they can have life-altering long-term effects.

Chlamydia is a STD that frequently either doesn’t cause symptoms or causes only mild ones. That is why experts recommend that all sexually active women 25 or younger be tested for Chlamydia once a year. Chlamydia trachomatis is a bacterial STD that can be cured with antibiotics. However, when left untreated, the infection can spread into the uterus and fallopian tubes, sometimes leading to chronic pelvic pain, pelvic inflammatory disease, and infertility.

In the study group, 897 girls tested positive for chlamydia at a school-based health centers. Of those, about 25 percent tested positive again the following year. Here is an alarming bit of information for parents. Students still in middle-school, we are talking 10 to 14 year olds here, had the greatest risk of being infected at least a second time with a STD. The rate of repeat infections was 39 percent for these students according to the researchers report in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Estimates suggest that at least 2 million Americans between 14 and 39 are infected with Chlamydia trachomatis. Health officials suggest that anyone who test positive should be tested again in three months in case there is a repeat infection.

The results of the research project suggest that school-based health clinics are a good place to offer tests for STDs. The study took place between 1996 and 2003 and included 10,600 girls, who were tested for chlamydia at a Baltimore school-based health center. They have health centers located in eight high schools and three middle schools.

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