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Show University Clinic Assisting In VD Fight In Utah Although information programs and clinics have made the public more aware of syphillis and gonorrhea, venereal disease is still present in epidemic proportions, propor-tions, according to a University Univer-sity of Utah physician. DR. CHARLES Smith, director of the University Hospital venereal disease clinic and head of the division of infectious disease, said about three percent of sexually sex-ually active women in the U.S. has assymtomatic gonorrhea, and the chances of a high school student developing venereal disease before graduation are about one in ten. In light of these figures. University Hospital has been operating a free and confidential con-fidential venereal disease clinic with money supplied by the Utah State Division of Health for two years. The clinic sees an average of 20 patients each week. A UNIQUE aspect of the ' clinic, Dr. Smith stressed, is that it is open each Monday night to accommodate students and working people. The clinic is open Monday from 5-8 p.m., except holidays. No appointment is ' necessary, and there is no age restriction. "We work hard to maintain confidentiality," Dr. Smith said. "Patients are handled by number rather than by name." EVEN THOUGH half of the people who visit the clinic do not actually have the disease, Dr. Smith urges anyone who suspects he or she has been exposed to VD to visit a clinic. Although the number of syphillis cases declined over the last ten years, this past year there has been a slight increase. Also, the number of gonorrhea cases continues to rise yearly. Dr. Smith attributed at-tributed this to three things: -THE transient nature of young adults-the group most likely to contract venereal disease. -The fact that gonorrhea may have no symptoms. -AND, THE popular belief that venereal disease is "no worse than a common cold." Young adults tend to move often and therefore are'dif-' ficult to reach with information informa-tion that would encourage them to seek treatment, Dr. Smith said. ANOTHER contributing factor to the spread of gonorrhea, according to the U physician is the fact that gonorrhea often does not show symptoms. A person may spread the disease to many other people without even realizing he or she is infected, he said. BECAUSE venereal disease treatment is relatively simple- penicillin shots for most people-its hazards tend to be forgotten, the clinic director added. But he emphasized that gonorrhea can cause sterility in women. It can also cause fever rash and arthritis, he said. THE UNIVERSITY clinic is one of many in Utah. The Salt Lake City-County Health Department, 610 South Second East, offers a free clinic Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 12:30-3 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30-11 a.m. In Ogden, the Weber County Health Department, 2570 Grant Ave. offers a clinic Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2-4 p.m.; Tuesday Tues-day from 5-6 p.m. and Thursday Thurs-day from 1:30-3:30 p,m. IN PROVO, the Utah City-County City-County Health Department, 107 East 1st South, offers a clinic Monday and Thursday from noon-l:30 p.m. And Life-Savers Health Service, Inc., 32 West Center, offers a clinic Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. -6 p.m. More information is available availa-ble from Utah State Division of Health at 533-6135, Dr Smith said. |