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With Valentine's Day on Monday, Sexual Responsibility Week begins.

The week-long event is hosted by UNO Student Health Services and will focus on diagnosing and treating sexually transmitted diseases.

Douglas County had more than twice the amount of Chlamydia and gonorrhea cases as the U.S. average in 2002, an alarming rate for health professionals in the area. Marcia Adler, UNO Student Health Services Coordinator, attributes two things to the higher STD rate in Douglas County.

"Number one, I think we've finally been able to get people's awareness to the fact that STDs are a possibility," she said. "The second thing is, I think technologically we've gotten the tests easier and more user-friendly so people don't have to be frightened during the process."

Basically, more people are getting tested so more cases are popping up.

According to a fact sheet from Student Health Services, if a person has had Chlamydia or gonorrhea, his chances of getting HIV are three to five times more likely. If a person has been infected with herpes or syphilis, his chances of getting HIV are nine times higher. STDs also increase infertility from 11 percent at the first repeat of an STD and up to 54 percent at the third repeat of an STD.

Just the side effects themselves could be enough to encourage college and high school-aged students to protect themselves.

Chlamydia shows up in men and women from seven to 28 days after intercourse. It causes abnormal discharge and pain during intercourse or urination. Infants born to infected women could suffer infections and pneumonia.

Gonorrhea shows up anywhere from two to 21 days after intercourse and causes similar symptoms to Chlamydia. Infected infants could experience eye infections and blindness.

Signs of syphilis can include sores, rashes, fever and could damage internal organs and cause death. Pregnant women with syphilis have an increased risk of still birth and infected infants could die.

Prevention of STDs is easy. Condoms are the easiest and cheapest way to protect sexually active partners. Student Health Services sell condoms in their office for 25 cents. They are free at the Women's Resource Center, where each day they put out a punch bowl of condoms until they run out. Condoms are also available at University Village.

Testing is also easy to receive. There are numerous places in Douglas County to get tested, including the Student Health Services at UNO, Creighton Women's Community Center and all Planned Parenthood locations in Omaha and Council Bluffs. Testing is confidential and pricing is based on a sliding scale at most places. UNO's SHS office offers free testing.

For a Chlamydia and gonorrhea test, the patient just has to provide a urine sample. HIV testing requires a swab of inside the patient's mouth or a finger prick for blood. It takes about 20 minutes to receive the results of a finger poke test.

Free HIV testing is also available through the Nebraska AIDS Project.

Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are treatable with antibiotics, but genital warts and herpes are viral infections and are not treatable with antibiotics. HPV (genital warts) and herpes can be transmitted, even when condoms are used, through viral shedding.

During Sexual Responsibility Week, getting tested has more of an incentive. Students who go in for testing have the chance to win free movie passes, free dinners and coupons to restaurants.

For more information on STDs and prevention, contact the Women's Resource Center at 554-2730, visit the Student Health Services office on the first floor of the Milo Bail Student Center or go online to www.stdomaha.com.

This Valentine's Day, you can show your sweetie you really love her and get tested for STDs. You may also want to use protection when having sex, because receiving a VD for VD, just isn't that romantic.

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