Reported chlamydia cases continue to rise at UNM, with six more University students contracting the disease this month.
The new cases bring the University total to 12 this year, the bulk coming in the last two months. There were four reported cases of the disease at UNM in September.
There have been more reported cases of chlamydia at UNM this year than any other sexually transmitted disease, according to the Student Health Center.
UNM is not alone in the trend: The state's second and third largest universities have also experienced sudden increases in the disease among their students.
New Mexico State University in Las Cruces is reporting 11 cases of the disease this academic year. Eastern New Mexico University, in Portales, is reporting the biggest increase this year - with 27 people contracting the disease this semester.
Chlamydia is a bacterial infection of the sexual organs. The disease attacks the urethra in men and the cervix in women. Chlamydia is transmitted through sexual contact and is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States.
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Three million cases of chlamydia are reported each year in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since many people, especially women, do not commonly experience symptoms of the disease, they may unknowingly transmit it to their sexual partners, said Connie Rossignol, a nurse practitioner at UNM's Student Health Center.
"College students are a very sexually active population and a side effect of that behavior is an increase in sexually transmitted diseases," Rossignol said. "Young people are trying to find someone to spend the rest of their lives with. Unfortunately, sometimes that involves risky behavior."
She said 578 people were tested for chlamydia at the Student Health Center last year. Of that number, 44 of them, or about seven percent, tested positive.
Rossignol said the disease is especially dangerous because only 20 percent of those infected show symptoms, which include painful urination and discharge from the penis or vagina. Untreated, chlamydia can cause pelvis inflammatory disease and eventually infertility.
Beverly Kloeppel, interim director of the Student Health Center, said the increase in cases may be a result of students exploring their sexuality or they are becoming more educated about the disease and are getting tested.
"The volume of people coming in and getting tested is higher, so it stands to reason that the number of positive tests is going to be higher," she said. "Then again, with more people out there with the disease, it could be spreading."
The good news, Rossignol said, is that chlamydia is easy to treat. Through oral antibiotics, the disease can be under control in little more than a week.
Because most people with chlamydia have no symptoms, it is important for men and women to get tested annually, according to the CDC.
Confidential tests are administered at the Student Health Center for $35.
"Use protection at all times, no matter what," Kloeppel said. "And above all else, limit your number of sexual partners and try to get your partners to do the same."
