How Chlamydia Affects Young Australians
Chlamydia is known to be the most common sexually transmissible disease (STI) among Australians, particularly young Australians.(1) Whilst curing the infection is often as simple as a single dose of antibiotics, notifications of chlamydia in young Australians continue to increase in number each year, flagging chlamydia as a public health concern. (1) This essay will focus on the determinants of health relating to the prevalence of chlamydia among young Australians over recent years, and public health interventions that could be implemented in order to protect and promote the wellbeing of the population, ultimately decreasing the number of cases of chlamydia. In this essay, the term “young Australians” …show more content…
(5) Figure 1 shows that the overall number of notifications of chlamydia have risen over the nine year period, more importantly highlighting that the 20-24 year old age group is overrepresented, closely followed by the 15-19 year old age group. This further cements the claim that young Australians contribute to the majority of chlamydia notifications, and that public health interventions must be aimed at this age group in order to decrease the rate of chlamydia. In young Australians, chlamydia contributed to 90%of the 57,119 notifications of the four most common STIs (gonorrhoea, syphilis, chlamydia and donovanosis) in 2012, having a tenfold increase over a 21 year period (1991-2012) (3).
In 2012 the incidence rate of chlamydia was 1,663 cases per 100,000 young Australians, contributing to 81%of overall notifications (Figure 2) (3). This increase could be due to many negative factors, but also positives, such as public health interventions, including increased screening for the infection and hence a higher incidence rate, resulting from diagnosis of the infection.(3) Morbidity associated with chlamydia is difficult to quantify, as it can cause many complications, ranging from mild (further infection of genitalia) to severe …show more content…
In 2009, a study in the health of a random sample of young Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians identified that chlamydia is 24 times more prevalent when compared to the non-Indigenous population*.(6) Figure 3 shows raw data taken from this study, which analysed patients attending general practice clinics, sexual health services and Aboriginal controlled services in
number of young Australians testing positive for chlamydia
Prevalence= ____________________________ x100 number of young Australians in the population * regional/remote and metropolitan areas.
Using the data from Figure 3, the prevalence of chlamydia in the population can be calculated using the following formula:
Refer to Appendix 1 for the appropriate calculations.
Therefore, the prevalence of chlamydia among the Indigenous population in this study* was 17.95% in comparison to 7.21% in the non-Indigenous population examined. The significant increase in prevalence among Indigenous Australians could be due to a number of determinants, as explained in the next section of this
Chlamydia is known to be the most common sexually transmissible disease (STI) among Australians, particularly young Australians.(1) Whilst curing the infection is often as simple as a single dose of antibiotics, notifications of chlamydia in young Australians continue to increase in number each year, flagging chlamydia as a public health concern. (1) This essay will focus on the determinants of health relating to the prevalence of chlamydia among young Australians over recent years, and public health interventions that could be implemented in order to protect and promote the wellbeing of the population, ultimately decreasing the number of cases of chlamydia. In this essay, the term “young Australians” …show more content…
(5) Figure 1 shows that the overall number of notifications of chlamydia have risen over the nine year period, more importantly highlighting that the 20-24 year old age group is overrepresented, closely followed by the 15-19 year old age group. This further cements the claim that young Australians contribute to the majority of chlamydia notifications, and that public health interventions must be aimed at this age group in order to decrease the rate of chlamydia. In young Australians, chlamydia contributed to 90%of the 57,119 notifications of the four most common STIs (gonorrhoea, syphilis, chlamydia and donovanosis) in 2012, having a tenfold increase over a 21 year period (1991-2012) (3).
In 2012 the incidence rate of chlamydia was 1,663 cases per 100,000 young Australians, contributing to 81%of overall notifications (Figure 2) (3). This increase could be due to many negative factors, but also positives, such as public health interventions, including increased screening for the infection and hence a higher incidence rate, resulting from diagnosis of the infection.(3) Morbidity associated with chlamydia is difficult to quantify, as it can cause many complications, ranging from mild (further infection of genitalia) to severe …show more content…
In 2009, a study in the health of a random sample of young Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians identified that chlamydia is 24 times more prevalent when compared to the non-Indigenous population*.(6) Figure 3 shows raw data taken from this study, which analysed patients attending general practice clinics, sexual health services and Aboriginal controlled services in
number of young Australians testing positive for chlamydia
Prevalence= ____________________________ x100 number of young Australians in the population * regional/remote and metropolitan areas.
Using the data from Figure 3, the prevalence of chlamydia in the population can be calculated using the following formula:
Refer to Appendix 1 for the appropriate calculations.
Therefore, the prevalence of chlamydia among the Indigenous population in this study* was 17.95% in comparison to 7.21% in the non-Indigenous population examined. The significant increase in prevalence among Indigenous Australians could be due to a number of determinants, as explained in the next section of this