Gonorrhea Cases Have Risen, UHS Reports

The incidence of gonorrhea on campus has more than doubled, from four cases in 1998 to nine as of September of this year, according to statistics released by University Health Services (UHS).

Of the nine cases in 1999, 7 were students.

The statistics should "let people know they need to use safe sex guidelines whenever possible," said Dr. Christopher M. Coley '83, chief of medicine for UHS.

But Coley stressed that no hard conclusions could be drawn about the incidence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) at Harvard based on the statistics. He said the small number of gonorrhea cases makes it difficult to assess the disease's prevalence on campus.

Also because some students may opt to go to other area hospitals or clinics to get tested, UHS may not know about every case on campus, he said.

Gonorrhea, commonly called the clap, is a bacterial infection that if not treated can cause sterility. It can be treated with antibiotics.

This "minor blip-up" in the numbers of gonorrhea cases, Coley said, may be the result of students' overconfidence stemming from new medical technologies.

Some individuals, he said, think that the proliferation of medications that combat the effects of many diseases has caused some sexually active students to disregard the need for condoms or other protection.

The same trend, Coley said, may be true among the general public as well.

Data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also indicate a nationwide increase in the number of gonorrhea cases.

The report also says that from January to September of this year there were 19 cases of chlamydia and 3 cases of HIV on campus among students and employees. The report did not have 1998 figures for those two diseases.

UHS has emphasized testing as a means of controlling STDs. Daniel M. Sussner '00, co-director of AIDS Education and Outreach (AEO), said UHS's efforts to promote testing are important because infections can remain dormant and students may not immediately realize they have contracted a disease.

AEO and other student organizations, such as the Peer Contraceptive Counselors (PCC) and the Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC), are providing peer counseling services, teaching sexual education and distributing condoms to help prevent the spread of STDs.

Sussner said AEO performs educational skits about sexual issues for first-year proctor groups.

AEO also provides each upper-class house with a box containing 100 condoms per week, and Sussner said AEO hopes to provide condoms in Harvard Yard in the future.

"The condom project is designed to stress not only prevention, but preparation," Sussner said. "You never know what might happen."

He added that one difficulty the condom distribution project has faced is students who hoard condoms.

The program only works, he said, if students take only a few condoms at a time.

PCC has a hotline for students with questions or concerns "about any issue," and provides counseling to students and educational outreach to first-year students, said Angela L. Peluse '01, PCC's co-director.

"There's no one foolproof way to prevent STDs," Peluse said. "We try to counsel and educate people about them."

Health educator Michael A. Hoyt from UHS' Center for Wellness and Health Communication said Harvard's best chance for preventing the spread of STDs lies in supporting condom distribution and informing students of the danger of the infections.

"We are trying to lower the risk of and educate people about STDs," Hoyt said.