[/caption]Most people may believe that sexually transmitted diseases are just a problem for younger folks with active sex lives, but it turns out that older women are more at risk for a disease that can cause severe health problems and that one expert underlines should require testing and mandatory reporting.
The parasite Trichomonas vaginalis has been found in a new study to be twice as common in women over 40. The worry about this is hat there are no symptoms in most cases. That’s the reason for the imperative to have testing.
Charlotte Gaydos, M.S., Dr. P.H., tells us, “We usually think of STDs as more prevalent in young people, but our study results clearly show that with trichomonas, while too many young people have it, even more, older women are infected.” She is one of the investigators involved in the study about older women.
The specifics of the finding done on 7,593 women in Quebec City Canada are these: women 50 and older had the highest trichomonas infection rate, at 13 percent followed by women in their 40’s at 11 percent. This study that collected samples from women in 28 states, is said to be the largest and most in-depth of its kind.
Gaydos is a professor at John Hopkins School of Medicine. She says, “Trichomonas infections are quite treatable with antibiotics,” warrant older women getting screened by their family physicians and gynecologists during routine check-ups to make sure they are not infected and are not inadvertently spreading it to others.” She also goes on to stress how vital it is to be tested because there are often no symptoms of the infection that can lead to severe health problems.
Testing is particularly urgent for older black women and women in jail where the infection rate is as high as 20 percent or more. Gaydos explains much of the difference in high rates among certain groups is as a result of the social and economic disparities in these groups.
It is especially important for older women to get tested and treated because of the higher rate of this sexually transmitted disease because it makes the woman more susceptible to HIV infections.
Sharing the test results with a partner and reporting the results to health agencies is important particularly because of the health risks that can be spread in the general population. because people who are infected don’t know they are and therefore don’t get treatment. Both sex partners in a mutually exclusive relationship should be tested. Condoms are considered some protection when infection is present, but abstinence is the only guarantee of not being infected. Once treated, however, folks can resume normal sexual activity, but continue to use caution, given the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases that occur without proper vigilance.
