Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV

STD / HIV Program

GYT: Get Yourself Tested

If you are sexually active, getting tested for STDs is one of the most important things you can do to protect your health! Have an open and honest conversation with your doctor about your sexual history and STD testing. This will help them understand what STD tests you may need.

To learn more about HIV and see if you are at risk, go to hiv.gov to take the HIV 101 lesson. Click on Basic HIV/AIDS information.

Van Buren Cass District Health Department
STD/HIV Program Brochure

Appointments

Appointments are needed for all services related to sexually transmitted diseases.  However appointments can be arranged upon request for certain needs and accommodations.

Financial

There is a $10.00 service fee.
No one will be turned away or denied services because of an inability to pay.

Clinic Services Survey

Locations

Dowagiac
HIV clinic / STD clinic
Thursdays
9-11 a.m. & 1-4 p.m.

Lawrence
HIV clinic / STD clinic
Wednesdays
9-11 a.m. & 1-4 p.m.

Free condoms available at both locations!

Confidential Clinic Services

Counseling, Testing, Referral and Treatment for:

Gonorrhea
Chlamydia
Syphilis

Counseling, Testing and Referral for:

Hepatitis B and C
HIV – Rapid (20 minute) results available

Counseling and Referral for:

Herpes
Genital Warts (HPV)

The STD clinic also offers a high-risk Hepatitis B Program. Those qualifying for the program can receive immunization free of charge. This program is in addition to the immunization services available through our immunization clinics.

Each year in June and December, the HIV clinic participates with HIV Awareness Week and World AIDS Day, providing confidential or anonymous no needle testing free of charge.

Which STD Tests Should I Get?

  • All adults and adolescents from ages 13 to 64 should be tested at least once for HIV.
  • All sexually active women younger than 25 years should be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia every year. Women 25 years and older with risk factors such as new or multiple sex partners or a sex partner who has an STD should also be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia every year.
  • All pregnant women should be tested for syphilis, HIV, and hepatitis B starting early in pregnancy. At-risk pregnant women should also be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea starting early in pregnancy. Testing should be repeated as needed to protect the health of mothers and their infants.
  • All sexually active gay and bisexual men should be tested at least once a year for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. Those who have multiple or anonymous partners should be tested more frequently for STDs (i.e., at 3- to 6-month intervals).
  • Sexually active gay and bisexual men may benefit from more frequent HIV testing (e.g., every 3 to 6 months).
  • Anyone who has unsafe sex or shares injection drug equipment should get tested for HIV at least once a year.

HIV Treatment as Prevention

People with HIV should take medicine to treat HIV as soon as possible. HIV medicine is called antiretroviral therapy, or ART. If taken as prescribed, HIV medicine reduces the amount of HIV in the body (viral load) to a very low level, which keeps the immune system working and prevents illness. This is called viral suppression—defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood. HIV medicine can even make the viral load so low that a test can’t detect it. This is called an undetectable viral load.

Getting and keeping an undetectable viral load* is the best thing people with HIV can do to stay healthy. Another benefit of reducing the amount of virus in the body is that it helps prevent transmission to others through sex or syringe sharing, and from mother to child during pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding. This is sometimes referred to as treatment as prevention. There is strong evidence about treatment as prevention for some of the ways HIV can be transmitted, but more research is needed for other ways


HIV Treatment as Prevention information from the CDC

Resources & Important Information

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