STD testing for students

By Alicia Salazar
Summer Forty-Niner

Cal State Long Beach Student Health Center, Long Beach Health Department and Associated Students are working together to put a stop to the spread of HIV and STD’s.

On Tuesday, June 29, an HIV and STD screening will be held on campus from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., said Ingrid Puerta, HIV and STD counselor at the Long Beach Health Department.

The screening will be held in the Student Union, Rooms A, B and C, Puerta said.

The screening is free and confidential.

"It will focus on high risk individuals ranging in age from 12-25," Puerta said. "We are focusing on CSULB students but if they bring a friend we will not turn them away."

Screening results are given to students two weeks later at the same time and location on campus. For more information one may call (562) 985-1732

"Back in March we had an HIV and STD screening at CSULB and it went well. We had a good turnout," she said.

For those students who are interested and those who qualify referrals to the Long Beach Health Department for birth control pills, I.U.D.’s and Deprovera shots will also be provided, said Puerta.

This service is free depending on income.

"For those students who receive a positive result for HIV we refer them to the Long Beach Health Department where they can attend programs and obtain medication free of charge if they qualify," Puerta said.

"The health department also offers free medication to students who have tested positive for STD’s if they qualify," she said.

Free counseling is also given to those who qualify who obtain positive results at the health department or at a location close to where they reside, according to Puerta.

Screenings are performed by an on campus nurse or by staff from the health department, Puerta said. Orasure is the test given for HIV, and the STD test is done by an examination of blood or urine, she said.

"By curbing the spread of HIV and STD’s we are putting a stop to it," Puerta said. "We are giving knowledge to kids on how to or how not to spread HIV and STD’s." 

"The HIV and STD screening will benefit students because of the convenience of the location and because it is free," said Sara Gershwin, Health Education Coordinator at the Student Health Center.

For more information, one may call (562) 985-1732.