BY PRESTON BURROWS
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\u201cPeople have sex in college. It\u2019s just normal behavior. Human beings were made to have sex,\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traci Ditter said, reassuring those who might be afraid to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases\/infections.
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Ditter works as a registered nurse at Fort Hays State University\u2019s Health and Wellness, which is offering free STI testing for students throughout April. Many health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Sexual Health Association set a week of or all of April for STD\/STI awareness.
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STDs and STIs can contain some differences, but according to the CDC, these terms are interchangeable. ASHA even suggests that \u201cSTI\u201d be more commonly used to prevent confusion by using the word \u201cdisease\u201d as it suggests that these infections will have noticeable signs or symptoms.
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As part of their tests, Health and Wellness Services test for gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV and syphilis. Gonorrhea and chlamydia tests only require a urine sample, with results returning 24 to 48 hours. The HIV and syphilis tests are more extensive, requiring blood work with results returning up to three days.
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Ditter said it is important to get tested and not wait, as the longer an STI or STD goes untreated the more likely for complications. The chance of sterility in men and women and other major health problems if these infections are not caught in time were also mentioned for another reason to get the free testing done.
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\u201cA lot of these diseases are silent in your body, and you can have it and not know it, and the longer that it is in your body, the more damage it can do,\u201d Ditter said.
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Ditter and her colleague Amanda McCord, RN of the Health and Wellness Service, pointed toward a stigma around getting tested for STIs and hope they won\u2019t prevent students from coming in and getting tested.
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\u201cI know that there are people who don\u2019t want to come in because they think we will send it to their parent\u2019s insurance or that somehow their parents will find out that they were in for testing,\u201d McCord said. \u201cAnd maybe they just don\u2019t want their parents to know they were sexually active at all, and when we offer the free testing, we eliminate that barrier.\u201d
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In addition to free testing, Health and Wellness Services also offers other preventive measures against STDs and STI as well as contraceptives. McCord said they offer free male and female condoms and also have Plan B, which can be purchased. Birth control is also offered; however, students must have an insurance provider.
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Ditter added the importance of STI testing increases when individuals are sexually active with multiple partners and are not using contraceptives.
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\u201cGetting checked if you are sexually active so that you are not carrying something you don\u2019t know you have and potentially causing harm to your body or passing it along to someone else, unintentionally,\u201d McCord added.
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In the past, the Health and Wellness Services made sure to visit FHSU classrooms to educate students about sexual health. However, COVID-19 has prevented the RN team from giving lectures to students about topics like these, but they hope to get back to doing more sex education in the future.
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Health and Wellness Services is also running a contest to raise STI awareness where students can guess how many condoms were used to make a dress being displayed in the Health and Wellness office. The winner will receive a $50 gift card to the FHSU Bookstore.
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This year\u2019s dress is designed with the colors of the Kansas City Chiefs and has a condom number 15 on the front – the same number as Patrick Mahomes. The contest ends tomorrow.
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Ditter and McCord encouraged students to come in with any questions and know that there are people who will talk to them without judgment.
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\u201cPeople come in here, and they are terrified, and then by the time they leave, they are just like, \u2018Oh, that wasn\u2019t so bad,\u2019\u201d Ditter said.
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The free STI tests will continue throughout April and then be available every Wednesday for the rest of the year.
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