Reproductive Health

The Communicable Disease Unit of Carbon County Public Health works not only to treat and care for people living with infectious diseases, but also to prevent them. We do so in a number of ways including community outreach and education. If you are a local business, school, community group, or organization looking for education on prevention of communicable diseases, including sexually transmitted infections, please reach out to us for free educational sessions or resources.

Our public health nurses deliver evidence-based health education aimed at reducing risk behaviors, including unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, injection drug/needle use, tobacco/alcohol/drug use, unsterile tattooing, and others. We offer comprehensive sexual health risk assessments to determine the most appropriate plan of sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing based on the individual patient’s risk factors. We educate patients on all forms of sexual health protection and birth control. Our Disease Prevention Clinic offers a multitude of testing options.

• Our services include:
• Screening for STIs
• Counseling, treatment, and referral services for infected patients and persons suspected to be exposed
• STI education to prevent the spread of infection

We offer testing for:

• Chlamydia – self-swab and/or urine test
• Gonorrhea – self-swab and/or urine test
• HIV – finger stick
• Hepatitis B – finger stick
• Hepatitis C – blood draw
• Syphilis – blood draw

Testing services for teens are entirely free. For adults working or living in Wyoming, most of the STI testing offered at Carbon County Public Health is covered by the state. All other adults will need to pay state lab fees. All adult clients can also expect to pay a $20 nursing fee per testing appointment unless they are financially unable to do so.

Carbon County Public Health dispenses STI treatment medications directly through our office. If we do not have medication in stock, we can assist in getting medication through a pharmacy.

The KnoWyo program offers information regarding HIV, STIs, and viral hepatitis prevention and risks, as well as access to low or no-cost testing and condoms.

For more information, visit https://knowyo.org

Carbon County Public Health, through a partnership with Wyoming Department of Health, offers free condom dispensers to any interested business or organization. Dispensers come in multiple sizes, are clear plastic, and can be mounted on the wall. This program seeks to reduce community transmission of sexually transmitted infections by providing easy access to safe sex materials. Call with any questions.

In addition to one-on-one reproductive and sexual health education in our appointments, Carbon County Public Health also employs a full time reproductive and sexual health specialist. We offer resource sharing, lesson planning, curriculum development, and community outreach
around reproductive and sexual health. Topics include:

• Healthy Relationships
• Consent
• HIV
• STIs
• Pregnancy
• Healthy Sexuality
• Puberty
• Condom Confidence

If you are interested in education, resources, an outreach table at your event, or curriculum development, please call us and ask to speak to our reproductive and sexual health specialist.

The Communicable Disease Unit of Carbon County Public Health works not only to treat and care for people living with infectious diseases but also to prevent them. We do so in a number of ways, including community outreach and education. If you are a local business, school, community group, or organization looking for education on prevention of communicable diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), please reach out to us for free educational sessions or resources.

Approximately 50% of people with penises and 75% of people with vaginas don’t show any STD symptoms. Testing is the only way to know for certain if there is an STD present. Protective measures such as condoms and dental dams can reduce the risk of STDs and pregnancy. STDs can be present wherever there is sexual contact.

Condoms and dental dams prevent STDs and pregnancy. Remember to use them for all forms of sex. STDs can be present wherever there is sexual contact.

Anyone who is sexually active should make a point of having open and honest talks with their partners about sexual history, contraception, and protection. Discuss when you were tested for STDs and what the results were. Vaccines currently exist for HPV and Hepatitis B. PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed. The best chance of protection is getting them before you have sex. Mathematically, fewer partners less potential exposure.

Bloodborne pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, are present in blood and bodily fluids and can cause disease in humans. The bloodborne pathogens of primary concern are hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

Follow standard precautions to help prevent the spread of bloodborne pathogens and other diseases whenever there is a risk of exposure to blood or other body fluids. These precautions require that all blood and other body fluids be treated as if they are infectious. Standard precautions include maintaining personal hygiene and using personal protective equipment (PPE), engineering controls, work practice controls, and proper equipment cleaning and spill cleanup procedures.

Guidelines for Preventing Infection:

• Avoid contact with blood and other bodily fluids, including using protection during sexual activity
• If injecting drugs, do not share needles
• Do not participate in at-home or unprofessional tattoos or piercings
• Use CPR breathing barriers, such as resuscitation masks, when giving ventilation (rescue breaths)
• Wear disposable gloves whenever providing care, particularly if you may come into contact with blood or bodily fluids. Also wear protective coverings, such as a mask, eye wear and a gown, if blood or other bodily fluids can splash. Cover any cuts, scrapes or sores and remove jewelry, including rings, before wearing disposable gloves.
• Change gloves before providing care to each different person
• Remove disposable gloves without contacting the soiled part of the gloves and dispose of them in a proper container
• Thoroughly wash your hands and other areas immediately after providing care. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer where hand washing facilities are not available if your hands are not visibly soiled. When practical, wash your hands before providing care.

To reduce the risk of exposure, follow these safety protocols:

• Use biohazard bags to dispose of contaminated materials, such as used gloves and bandages.
• Place all soiled clothing in marked plastic bags for disposal or cleaning.
• Biohazard warning labels are required on any container holding contaminated materials.
• Use sharps disposal containers to place sharps items, such as needles.

Who is PrEP for?
PrEP is for people without HIV who are at risk for getting the virus from sex or injection drug use. The federal guidelines recommend that PrEP be considered for people who are HIV-negative who:

• Have had anal or vaginal sex in the past 6 months
• Have a sexual partner with HIV (especially if the partner has an unknown or detectable viral load)
• Have not consistently used a condom
• Have been diagnosed with an STD in the past 6 months.
• Inject drugs and have shared needles, syringes, or other injection equipment

PrEp should also be considered for people who have been prescribed non-occupational post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and report continued risk behavior, or have used multiple courses of PEP.

If you have a partner with HIV and are considering getting pregnant, talk to your doctor about PrEP if you’re not already taking it. PrEP may be an option to help protect you and your baby from getting HIV while trying to conceive, during pregnancy, or while breastfeeding.

For individuals without HIV but who are at a very high risk of getting HIV, PrEP can work to keep the virus from establishing a permanent infection and, when taken daily, is highly effective. Studies have shown that PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%. Among people who inject drugs, it reduces the risk by at least 74% if used as prescribed.

As PrEP only protects against HIV, condoms are important for protection against other STDs, as well as if PrEP is not taken consistently.

Providers, if you have any questions about prescribing PrEP, please call us at 307-733-6401 and ask to speak to one of our nurses about prescribing PrEP. If you have a patient who is interested but is underinsured or uninsured, please have them give us a call.

Other resources include the Gilead Patient Assistance Program, a program aimed at helping patients cover the cost of PrEp, including copays.

Also available is wyprepmatters.com, which provides information on things since as cost concerns and how to utilize the appropriate financial resources.

For information on Breast and Cervical Cancer Screenings, visit: www.health.wyo.gov/PHSD/bcedp/about.html

For information on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, visit:
www.health.wyo.gov/PHSD/std/index.html

For information on HIV/AIDS, visit:
www.health.wyo.gov/PHSD/ads/index.html

Wyoming Department of Health, visit:
www.health.wyo.gov