A blood and urine test.

This was all that was required for Miami University’s first-ever “Get Yourself Tested” (GYT) day 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Health Services (SHS) building.

The event, sponsored by SHS, offered students non-invasive asymptomatic screening for $55, meaning only urine and blood tests would be used.

SHS Nurse Practitioner Amanda LaManna got the idea for the event through MTV’s “It’s Your (Sex) Life” campaign, which began in 1997 through a partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV.

“I just had the idea one day that it would be really great as an outreach event to have this GYT event and promote it across campus and break down some barriers about testing,” LaManna said. “There’s a need for it. Miami isn’t really protected from infections.”

MTV allows health centers to customize the events for their campus through free materials available on their website, according to LaManna.

Every year 19 million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur in the United States, more than the diagnosis for cancer, heart disease and diabetes combined.

However, most STIs go undiagnosed every year, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gail Walenga, assistant vice president for SHS, said LaManna championed and helped organize the event.

“This is part of the fun, if you will, of working in a college health environment: you get to do things that are different than working in regular health care,” Walenga said. “When we first talked about it, I knew that if we were going to offer the testing, we had to make the cost reasonable.”

The reduced screening price could be paid in cash, with a credit card or through students’ Bursar, where it would be listed as a miscellaneous charge, according to LaManna.

“If you pay out of pocket for the visit and all of the tests it can add up to over $150,” LaManna said. “We take for granted how much insurance covers that for us. So we decided to offer something at a discounted rate so that students who were most concerned about confidentiality between them and their parents or them and their insurance companies could have something that was appropriate for them.”

LaManna said SHS absorbed the cost of office visits for the event. According to Walenga, SHS lost money on each visit, but the lost revenue will not significantly impact SHS and will be made up in other ways.

“I thought it was important enough to offer the service,” Walenga said. “If you are sexually active, it pays to get tested. You never know where your partner has been, and you want to be sure that you’re not infecting someone else.”

Junior Jake Westfall agreed.

“It’s really great the cost was that much cheaper than the [original estimate],” Westfall said. “Getting tested [for STIs] is very important. Hopefully [this event] improves people’s awareness of what they have and what they’ve encountered.”

Walenga said 15 students were tested Wednesday.

“We had hoped for a number around 30, but I’m happy we had 15,” Walenga said. “These programs take time to build. It takes word-of-mouth to get those messages out.”

SHS targeted a variety of groups for the event, including residence life, Spectrum and Greek life.

LaManna said this was an important event because of the recent trends on campus. According to LaManna, 4-5 percent of all Chlamydia tests performed in 2009 came back positive, making it the most prevalent STI at Miami.

“We thought a testing campaign would be helpful, particularly because there are a lot of infections that don’t have symptoms,” LaManna said.

Rebecca Young, director of Student Wellness Programs (SWP), which co-sponsored the event, said SWP’s education and awareness programs coincided with this event.

“We know that people in the age group between 18 and 25 are at the highest risk for sexually transmitted infections and that alcohol consumption lowers the prevalence of condom use, so given the drinking rates on our campus and other college campuses, it’s really an important factor when looking at college student health,” Young said.

LaManna said she hopes to hold this event at least once a semester and possibly once a month in the future. Walenga said she hopes to establish at least two GYT events per year during strategic times in the semester, such as after spring break. This would also give clinicians the opportunity to tell students visiting SHS about this event.

“The real driver here was it was just a screening and it was a short visit,” Walenga said. “If someone thinks they have a sexually transmitted infection they typically get an exam at some level. If it’s a female they’ll get a pelvic exam, if it’s a male they’ll get a penile check.”

Walenga said after every screening students are told the importance of using condoms and how to prevent transmitting STIs.

“On a regular day anyone can come in and have an STI screen with symptoms or without symptoms and traditionally what happens is these tests are billed to your insurance,” LaManna said.

However, Walenga said even visits billed to students’ insurance plans are listed simply as a visit to SHS.

Students can learn more about GYT and STIs online at www.itsyoursexlife.com or at SHS website www.units.muohio.edu/saf/shs/.

To a lot of Miami University students, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are a bit of a mystery. Here are a few of the most common:

Genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

HPV is one of the most common STIs with 20 million people infected and 6.2 million new cases each year. Most people infected with HPV do not show symptoms. Even when HPV causes cervical cancer, symptoms do not appear until the cancer is advanced. HPV can be passed through anal, oral and vaginal sex and through skin-to-skin contact. There is no way to cure HPV.

Trichomoniasis

Trichomoniasis is an infection of the genital area that has about 5 million new cases each year. There are often no symptoms but women may experience genital discomfort and men may have irritation in the penis. Trichomoniasis is spread through vaginal sex and can be treated with antibiotics. This STI can increase risk of getting HIV and can cause complications during pregnancy for women.

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection of the genital areas that infects 1.2 million new people every year. There are often no symptoms but symptoms can include abnormal vaginal discharge, bleeding and painful urination for women. For men symptoms can include painful urination or itching around the penis. Chlamydia is spread through anal, oral and vaginal sex and can be passed from mother to child during childbirth. Contracting Chlamydia can lead to heightened risk of contracting other STIs. This STI can be cured through antibiotics.

Genital Herpes

About 45 million people are already infected with herpes and about 1 million new cases occur every year. Herpes is a viral infection of the genital areas and, like the preceding STIs, usually has no symptoms. There are two types of herpes. Herpes 1 causes sores and blisters around the mouth. Herpes 2 causes genital sores or blisters. During the first outbreak, herpes can lead to flu-like symptoms. Herpes are spread through anal, oral and vaginal sex, through sexual skin-to-skin contact and more rarely through childbirth. There is no cure for herpes but there are medications to treat the symptoms and reduce the frequency of outbreaks.

Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection of the genital areas that infects about 650,000 new people every year. This STI is most commonly seen in women ages 15-19 and men ages 20-24. Gonorrhea often has no symptoms but when symptoms do occur they can take the shape of painful urination, vaginal bleeding and unusual discharge in women and painful urination, unusual discharge and swollen testicles in men.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS and infects about 56,000 new people each year with about 1.1 million cases already existing. Most people with HIV do not display any symptoms until their immune system has weakened. HIV usually takes about 10 years to develop into AIDS. HIV can be passed through anal, oral and vaginal sex and by sharing contaminated needles. There is no cure for HIV or AIDS.