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City of Nashua offers free testing for sexually transmitted infections on Valentine’s Day

Jan Kopřiva
/
Unsplash

Granite Staters can get tested for a range of sexually transmitted infections for free during the city of Nashua’s fourth annual Valentine’s Day testing event.

The event is organized by the city’s division of public health and community services.

Sascha Potzka, a public health nurse with the city of Nashua, said testing is important because people may not know if they’re living with an infection.

“A lot of people are asymptomatic, especially with Chlamydia and Gonorrhea – about 50% of people don’t experience symptoms,” she said. The same is true for HIV – many people may not experience symptoms in the beginning, she said.

HIV rapid testing takes about one minute, Potzka said. Hepatitis C testing takes 20 minutes, and the sites will also offer testing for Chlamydia, Gonnorhea, and Syphilis.

Potzka said testing is especially important as cases for sexually transmitted infections continue to rise.

“Especially for people who have a new partner, you don’t know if you had something from a previous relationship or if your partner had something, so the best thing to do is to get tested and keep each other safe,” she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of sexually transmitted infections have hit record highs in the United States for six years straight, as of last April.

The city will offer testing on Monday, February 14 from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM in the parking lot of H.E.A.R.T.S Peer Support Center on Pine Street, and from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm at the Nashua Soup Kitchen.

Mara Hoplamazian reports on climate change, energy, and the environment for NHPR.
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