CHICAGO, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Some women may get flowers for Valentine's Day, but young U.S. women can also get a discount for a sexually transmitted disease test, a Web site says.
The Kiss Chlamydia Goodbye campaign at GetSTDtested.com was created by the Partnership for Prevention, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, national non-profit organizations, healthcare professional associations, advocacy groups, health insurers, as well as local, state, and federal government representatives to urge women ages 18-24 to get tested for chlamydia.
Through Feb. 28, getSTDtested.com is offering women in that age bracket and their partners a $20 discount for testing and treatment services by visiting KissChlamydiaGoodbye.com. The chlamydia test is conducted with a urine sample collected in home or at a convenient service center and then tested at the nation's leading diagnostic laboratory. For individuals with positive results, physicians provide counsel and treat inexpensively with antibiotics, the Web site says.
Chlamydia infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease, responsible for a record 1.1 million cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007. However, CDC officials estimate twice that many cases go undetected. Left untreated, chlamydia can cause infertility or potentially fatal ectopic pregnancies. But many women aren't aware they are exposed until years later when they try to have a baby and may run into fertility problems, the CDC says.
