Free STD Testing in St. Louis Park, MN

Here are recent statistics about STD rates. These are for the state of Minnesota.

Syphilis rates rose 63% in Minnesota women in 2015, causing state officials to call for more testing and awareness of the disease, according to recent reports.  Chlamydia cases numbered 19,897 according to the Minnesota Department of Health with 66% of those cases in men and women ages 15-24.

Gonorrhea cases numbered 2073 according to the Minnesota Department of Health with 52% of the cases in men and women ages 15-24. Health officials noted that chlamydia is now the most common communicable disease in Minnesota. Here are some statistics about chlamydia in Minnesota.

It accounted for about 80 percent of all Minnesota STDs with a 7 percent increase in one year and currently at 21,238. The majority of chlamydia cases occurred in teens and young adults 15 to 24

With chlamydia the most reported STD in Minnesota, the number of cases last reported was 21,238. Gonorrhea was second, with 4,097 cases, and syphilis ranked third, with 654. Public health officials said they are particularly troubled by the rapid spread of chlamydia, which has increased 61 percent in the last decade.

A related statistic showing problems with young adults and teens having unprotected sex and not using condoms is that according to a recent report 40 percent of Minnesota pregnancies are unintended. Teen pregnancy rates of women aged 15 to 19 was 36 in 1000 women in 2010.

Unintended pregnancy happens at higher rates in working class women and women of color. A recent report stated that 45 percent of sexually active students in Minnesota say they or their partner always uses a condom during sexual contact.

In Minnesota sex education is considered by many to be a growing issue. Some feel the way students are taught sex education has little or no positive impact on their sexual behavior.

It is typical for a student to go through an abstinence-only program in Minnesota. In 2010 the state got money in federal funding for teaching abstinence-only to students.

A requirement for sex education in Minnesota is that abstinence must be taught as the only completely effective way to protect against unplanned pregnancy, STDs/STIs, and sexually transmitted HIV/AIDs. A sex education class must be taught so the information is technically correct.

What is not required is teaching about contraceptives. The teacher must have sex education training. For some these state level sex education requirements are a problem.

This is because there is no statewide, district wide, or even school wide curriculum for sex education in Minnesota. Teachers are free to create their own curriculum.

The current state of education in the state is not effective as we see reports of 40 percent of pregnancies as unintended.  We also see reports of sexually active students at high numbers reporting not using condoms. Rates for STDs are high in the state also showing the current situation concerning education is inadequate.

Demographics play a role in the high STD rates in your city, surrounding region, and the state of Minnesota. Chlamydia, the nation’s most widespread sexually transmitted disease, accounted for roughly 80 percent of all Minnesota STDs last year, with 21,238 cases, a 7 percent increase in just one year.

The majority of those cases occurred in teens and young adults ages 15 to 24. Gonorrhea was second, with 4,097 cases.

Syphilis ranked third, with 654 cases. An especially troubling trend was a sharp increase in infections among women, especially women of childbearing age.

Higher syphilis infection rates turned up among American Indian and African-American women and men who have sex with men. There were reports of women who passed syphilis to their babies last year. Overall, the report showed higher infection rates for chlamydia and gonorrhea among communities of color and American Indians when compared to whites.

Public health officials said they are particularly troubled by the rapid spread of chlamydia, which has increased 61 percent in the last decade. People may not know they have it as there are no symptoms so that would contribute to the increase as would the fact that there is a decline in the overall number of people receiving STD screenings.

Every year when the STD report comes out for Minnesota, it gets worse. People need to know these issues and get tested and treated.

Fortunately, there are facilities in your city and area that can help you with STD education, testing, and treatment.

Minneapolis Clinic/Planned Parenthood is a place that can help you with STD education, testing, and treatment. The staff is trained to help you with your situation as it offers STD testing, diagnosis, and treatment including chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

Additionally, they provide testing and diagnosis for HIV and testing, diagnosis, and treatment for bacterial vaginosis, genital warts, herpes, and trichomoniasis. STD prevention services include condoms, HPV (Gardasil) vaccines, hepatitis B vaccines, and STD/safer sex education.

The facility tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia using a urine sample. If this test shows an infection, then you will get treatment and an explanation of how your partner can be treated. Rapid HIV testing is done by swabbing the inside of your mouth with results available in 20-40 minutes.

A hospital can also help especially if you feel embarrassed going to Planned Parenthood. Remember also that you can also go to a counsellor or nurse at a public high school for information about where to get tested.

Keep in mind that in your area there are urgent care centers. One of the less talked about but highly used services of such a center is STD testing.

Whether testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes, HIV, syphilis or any other disease or condition, these STD screenings you can use to help you.  You can find online reviews about these centers to help you decide to use one including a service in your city.

You can also work with an organization such as CRUSH to help. CRUSH is a group of professionals, youth, and community members who are concerned about rising rates of chlamydia and STDs in the Minneapolis area.

The group has a focus on outreach efforts for urban teens and young adults. It has organized STD screenings at Twin Cities locations.

Over 100 young adults have used their services for testing and treatment for chlamydia with chlamydia treatable with antibiotics and untreated possibly leading to infertility. You can also use a private service such as STDcheck.

This service is advertised as being 100 percent confidential. All tests are FDA approved.

Same day testing is also available. Five-minute testing is an option with results in one to two days.

They promise that from your first point of contact either by phone or online all possible is done to safeguard your personal information. They abide by all state and federal laws about medical privacy including the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Encryption of data means all transactions between you and STDcheck are secure.

STDcheck does not accept insurance. This way your testing results are not reported to your insurance company.

The results are not put into your medical record. You can use a health savings account, flexible spending account, cashier check, echeck, credit card, debit cards, and other options. The charge appears on a credit card as Medology.

Whether you go to Planned Parenthood, a high school counsellor or nurse at an area high school, an online service, or a clinic or hospital, you can find in your area information about STDs, testing, and treatment.

While STD rates are high in your city and area, help is available in your area in the way of testing and treatment that is confidential, discreet, compassionate, and effective. Consider how the staff at these facilities is trained to help someone like you, especially with the staff at Planned Parenthood or any other facility reminding you to check your health, improve it, and keep yourself healthy by always using a condom to practice safe sex.

You can get information about STDs, testing, and treatment if you go to a counsellor or nurse at an area school such as St. Louis Park High School. You can also get such information at a hospital such as Methodist Hospital –Park Nicollet. Here are links to these resources.