According to a press release, the Wyoming Department of Health reported a 50 percent rise in gonorrhea rates from 2016 to 2017 and over the last five years cases quintupled by 529 percent with the highest rates found in Niobrara, Laramie and Fremont counties.
The Wyoming Department of Health Communicable Disease Surveillance Program Manager Courtney Smith said the state’s overall increase in gonorrhea rates are due to people engaging in intercourse with multiple partners, not using a condom and having sex with anonymous partners.
“Albany County is seventh highest in terms of rate of infection and that rate is 47.6 cases per 100,000 and that was a total of 18 cases,” Smith said.
Although there is no available data for the University of Wyoming specifically, Smith did say that all 18 cases in Albany County were found in Laramie and that 56 percent of those cases were found in young adults ages 15 to 24. However, UW Student Health Services reports that they have not witnessed any increase in the number of cases over the last year.
“There’s many different ways that you can prevent STD infection,” Smith said. “Abstinence is the 100 percent way, but that’s not always realistic for a lot of people, so we promote condom use.”
Director of UW Student Health Services Dr. Joanne E. Steane said, “Students should always limit the number of partners they engage in intercourse [with] because you’re always being exposed to not only the person you’re having intercourse with, but [also] the sexual partners of that partner. And always wear a condom from start to finish with every type of sexual encounter.”
The evolution, or lack thereof, of sexual education programs is a hot topic, especially amongst young people who feel that abstinence-centered programs are outdated and unrealistic.
“I see the dominant reason for the increasing number of STI cases to be a distinct lack of comprehensive sex education curriculums, especially in Wyoming,” Gunnar McLellan, a sophomore in anthropology with an emphasis on linguistics from Champlin, Minnesota, said. “It’s time we start teaching people of all ages not only how to do it [sex] correctly and safely, but also to educate people on healthy relationships and the ever-evolving world of sex and culture.”
The Wyoming Department of Health encourages people to visit their website knowwyo.org where users can locate condom dispensers near them or order free condoms in the mail. Users can also schedule a low-cost STD test on the website.
UW Student Health Services will be hosting their Spring Get Yourself Tested Event in the Union on Wednesday, April 18 from 10:30-2:00 p.m. UW students will be able to receive free gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV testing. Further STD testing is also available by appointment.
