Chlamydia may sound like the name of an exotic flower. Instead, it is a curable sexually transmitted disease that is spread from person to person during sex.

Chlamydia, along with other STDs such as gonorrhea, syphilis and herpes, is one of the nation’s most pervasive health problems. One in four American adults has an STD, according to the American Social Health Association.

In Lewis and Clark County, more than 100 cases per year of chlamydia, the most common STD, have been reported to the city-county health department for the past several years running. And, according to Public Health Nurse Kay Robertson, RN., about 20 percent of chlamydia cases occur in individuals who are 14 to 18 years old.

During the 2007 Legislature, a bill (House Bill 612) to provide comprehensive sex education in the schools was introduced. It would have provided young people with the information and skills to prevent sexually transmitted infections, which cause serious disease, but are entirely preventable. The bill failed.

That’s unfortunate, Robertson said, because every time an STD is reported to the health department, it costs taxpayers money. Each time people suspect they might have an STD, it represents a visit to a clinic, a diagnostic test, a prescription for treatment, a report to the public health authority (the city-county health department), an investigation of the person’s other sexual contacts, and preventive education. Every step in this process adds to the cost of the public health system and the medical system.

Many people don’t know that they even have chlamydia, Robertson said, so they don’t get treated. Then they pass the disease to someone else during sex. The only way to know for sure if you have chlamydia, or any other STD, is to go to a doctor or clinic for testing.

About 75 percent of women and 50 percent of men have no symptoms.

If untreated, chlamydia and gonorrhea can be harmful to women, causing pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and ectopic or tubal pregnancies. And some strains of HPV (human papillomavirus) are associated with cervical cancer.

The best way to avoid transmission of sexually transmitted infections is to not have any sexual contact, or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and is not infected. You can reduce your chances of getting chlamydia or giving it to your partner by using latex condoms correctly every time you have sexual intercourse.

“To make healthy choices,” Robertson said, “you need to know the facts.” She said the school nurses at the middle schools and high schools have information on STDs. “Let’s work on smart sex education. It’s another tool in living healthfully, just like using seatbelts and not drinking alcohol while driving.” She also advised parents to talk to their children.

If you think you might have an STD, get tested. Don’t just hope it will go away. It won’t. For more information, call your health-care provider or the public-health nurses at the city-county health department at 443-2584.

Information about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases is a service of the Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department, whose mission is to improve and protect the health of all Lewis and Clark County residents.