Madison is the capital of Wisconsin and boasts a beautiful downtown surrounded by a first-class University town. You don’t have to be a Bucky fan take in the many charms of Madison, like the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace and the Kohl Center. It’s important for Madison residents to stay aware of their sexual health, as commonly reported STDs like gonorrhea and syphilis and primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis.1-4 Getting tested and linked to treatment, if medically appropriate, can help to lower the STD rates in Madison and the greater Dane County area. Scheduling an appointment for testing at your primary care doctor’s office can mean waiting weeks before getting in, and the waiting room at a free clinic can be crowded. STDtest.com offers an option with the same FDA-approved tests and exemplary patient care that is additionally tailored to your personal schedule. Read on to learn more.
Madison and the greater Dane County area is home to over 523,000 residents5 as well as the lovely Olbrich Botanical Gardens. This mid-size Midwestern metropolis offers a plentiful urban life for those who live there year-round. It’s easy to stress less and focus on the day-to-day more in Madison when you have the answers you need about your sexual health status. If you’re embarrassed about getting tested or even ashamed, know that you’re not alone. A dedicated team of Care Advisors is available 7 days a week from 6 am to 10 pm to answer your questions and guide you each step of the way.
According to the CDC, all sexually transmitted diseases can be treated and many can be cured, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis. For those without a cure, like HIV, certain forms of viral hepatitis and genital herpes can be managed with medicine with minimal disruption to your daily routine. While getting treated and even cured for most sexually transmitted diseases is most often only a diagnosis away, STDs left untreated can lead to more severe health problems, like pelvic inflammatory disease or even infertility.6-9 If you’re at risk, it’s more than worth it to get tested. Anyone at risk includes, but is not limited to, sexually active people who have never been tested, anyone who just had unprotected sex, anyone with more than one sexual partner currently or within the last year, anyone with a partner who is STD positive or anyone experiencing STD-like symptoms.
The most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease in the Madison and Dane County is chlamydia, with 1,900 new infections reported in 2014 compared to 2,041 in 2013. From 2011 to 2014, the highest number of new chlamydia cases was reported in 2013. While chlamydia numbers are on the decline, gonorrhea infection numbers and rates continue to climb in this metropolitan statistical area. In 2014, 399 new gonorrhea cases were reported, compared to 298 in 2013. From 2011 to 2014, the number of gonorrhea diagnoses increased by 46.6%.4
Additionally, primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis is on the rise in the Madison area, with a year-over-year increase from 2013 to 2014 of 38.2%. Syphilis is typically reported in far fewer numbers in comparison to chlamydia and gonorrhea, however, the complications that can arise from an untreated case of syphilis can be far more severe, resulting in ocular syphilis, neurosyphilis or congenital syphilis. Congenital syphilis is condition passed from mother to child that can cause birth defects or even fetal death.1-4,10 From 2010 to 2014, 136 cases total were reported in Madison and Dane County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. In 2015, 20 new cases of HIV were reported countywide.11 Continuing to get tested and treated, if medically appropriate, is a simple and effective way of lowering STD rates in Madison and Dane County.
Wisconsin state legislature mandates “Abstinence-Stress” sexual education for grades K-12 in public schools.12 This type of education calls for abstinence to be presented as the only 100% effective form of STD, HIV/AIDS and unintended pregnancy prevention. While abstinence is an integral component of any comprehensive sexual education curriculum, not providing full information about sex and the risks involved, information about how STDs are contracted and how they can be treated and cured, as well as information about other preventive methods for unintended teen pregnancy can be detrimental to the growth and development of young people, especially if they encounter any issues or situation they don’t have adequate knowledge about.
Abstinence does not guarantee that young people outside of marriage will not engage in sex. In fact, across the United States, young people ages 15-24 report nearly 50% of the 20 million new sexually transmitted infections reported annually, despite the fact that this age group only accounts for 27% of the sexually active population according to the CDC. Informing students and empowering them to make the right choices based on the facts, not on fear, can make the difference when it comes to a young person getting tested and treated for a sexually transmitted disease or leaving the condition undiagnosed and untreated and leaving themselves more vulnerable for further complications.
Young people in Madison and the greater Dane County area are also highly affected by the spread of sexually transmitted disease. As of 2014, the 15-24 year old age group accounts for 66% of all new chlamydia infections, 58.3% of all new gonorrhea infections and 25.5% of all new syphilis infections in the metropolitan statistical area of Madison and Dane County. Gender also is a factor in the demographic distribution of STIs in the area. Women report far higher numbers of chlamydia, with 64.1% of all 2014 infections compared to men with 35.9%. The gender gap isn’t quite as large regarding gonorrhea infections, with men reporting 59.9% of the 2014 findings compared to women with 40.1%. Men typically report the majority of syphilis cases in a given area, and Madison is no exception, with its male population accounting for 91.5% of the most recently reported cases.4
Dane County reports the second highest instance of HIV infections in the state, following Milwaukee County. Across the state of Wisconsin, men are seven times more likely to be infected with the virus than women, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Minority groups are affected in numbers disproportionate to their community population, with Hispanics in Madison 6 times more likely to report the infection compared to the Caucasian population segment. The population group at the highest risk for infection is men who have sex with men (MSM), who reported 80% of new HIV diagnoses in 2015. Spreading the word about testing, linkage to care with an overall goal of viral load suppression is a key aim of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy to lower and eventually eliminate the virus in America and around the world.11
Spend your free time in Madison engaged in what you most enjoy, like a lazy day lounging along Lake Mendota, rather than feeling concerned and stressed over your unknown STD status. Getting started with STDtest.com is simple. To begin, you’ll answer a brief medical questionnaire to receive your doctor recommended panel of tests, customized to your personal history and symptoms. Next, you’ll choose a testing option. All across the country, you can select a lab nearest you from a national network of thousands for a short visit (usually 30 minutes or less) to collect your samples. No appointment is required and same-day options available. If available in your area, you can choose In-Home Collection, a service where the lab comes to you. Appointment times are available within an hour of scheduling.
Once your test samples are collected, results are usually available in three business days or less. The medical team is available for a follow-up consult to discuss your diagnosis, answer any remaining questions and even to prescribe treatment, if medically appropriate and if allowed by state law. Get tested. It’s for your better health.