CHLAMYDIA AMONG TEENS AND YOUTH - Essay Example

The other important skills include being able to recognize pressures from other people and to resist them, deal with and challenge prejudice, seek help from adults including parents, carers and professionals through the family, community and health and welfare services. Sex education equip young people with the skills to be able to differentiate between accurate and inaccurate information, discuss a range of moral and social issues and perspectives on sex and sexuality, including different cultural attitudes and sensitive issues like sexuality, abortion and contraception.

It is widely accepted that young people have a right to sex education, because it is a means by which they are helped to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases such as Clamydia and HIV/AIDS. Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem.

The bacteria can move from one person to another through sexual intercourse, and possibly through oral-genital contact. If someone touches bodily fluids that contain the bacteria and then touches his or her eye, a chlamydial eye infection is possible. (Stamm W E, 1999)It is difficult for a girl to know whether she has chlamydia because most girls do not have any symptoms. Chlamydia causes an unusual vaginal discharge or pain during urination. Some girls with Chlamydia also have pain in their lower abdomens, pain during sexual intercourse, or bleeding between menstrual periods.

Sometimes a Chlamydia infection can cause a mild fever, muscle aches, or headache. Like a girl, a guy can also have a difficult time telling whether he has chlamydia. Some guys may have a discharge from the tip of the penis, the urethra where urine comes out, or experience itching or burning sensations around the penis. Rarely, the testicles become swollen. Chlamydia bacteria live in vaginal fluid and in semen. About 70 percent of Chlamydial infections have no symptoms. It is very common among teenagers and young adults.

At present chlamydia affects between 3 and 4 million people a year. It can be very harmful to women because it can lead to sterility. The infection can spread up the fallopian tubes and leaves scar tissue there so an egg can't get through. If this happens a woman can never get pregnant in her uterus. This also increases the risk of an ectopic also known as tubal pregnancy, which is a pregnancy that cannot be completed. This is a serious medical condition and if a tubal pregnancy ruptures one can die.

Most at risk groups for Chlamydia are teenagers who actually have the highest rate in the country. Sixteen to 24 year olds have much higher rates than adults and that's both boys and girls. It's alarming because it portends the future health of the kids. And Chlamydia hits teens and young adults hard. More than one out of 25 people ages 18 to 26 are infected with Chlamydia. The infection rate is slightly higher among women, according to the May issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Chlamydia is known as a 'silent' disease because about three quarters of infected women and about half of infected men have no symptoms.