High school in Texas with no sex education policy is dealing with chlamydia outbreak

Chlamydia can make people infertile

Condoms made with native latex are ready to be packed at the Natex factory that produces around 100 million condoms per year for the Brazilian Health Ministry in Xapuri, Acre State on October 7, 2014. Current production equates to a fifth of the 500 millions condoms -- known as 'camisinhas de Venus' or little Venus shirts in Portuguese -- which the government hands out annually free of charge in a country where according to the UNAIDS non-government organization 730,000 people are HIV-positive. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

A school in Texas which does not have a sex education policy is now dealing with an outbreak of chlamydia.

As many as 20 students of around 300 attending Crane High School have been diagnosed with the Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).

An apparent lack of sex education has been blamed for the situation, as The Crane Independent School District (CISD), which oversees the institutions in the area, “does not offer a curriculum in human sexuality,” according to its Student Handbook for 2014-2015, RawStory reported.

This comes after the district’s School Health Advisory Committee recommended in 2012 that advice on abstinence should be given if a sexual policy was developed.

The school currently offers its high school pupils three days of sex education in the autumn term.

The CISD was alerted to the shocking number of cases by the Texas Department of State Health Services, and the body responded by alerting parents in a letter.

Those shocked by the news took to Twitter, with one writing: “Gee abstinence only education doesn’t seem to work. Wonder why?”

Another praised the school for attempting to address the issue: “An STD is spreading in Crane...and the ISD isn't shying away, sending a letter about it to parents in the district.”

Crane High School, where there has been an outbreak of chlamydia (Image: Google Maps)

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Chlamydia is one of the most common STIs in the UK and US, and is spread through unprotected sex.

Most people who contract the disease do not have any symptoms, but signs can include painful urination, unusual discharge from the penis, vagina, or rectum, and bleeding between periods and after sex in women, according to the NHS.

If untreated by antibiotics, the disease can leave sufferers infertile.

In the wake of the outbreak, authorities yesterday held a meeting with the Schools Health Advisory Committee to review the institution’s sex education classes. The recommendations will be presented to the school board on 19 May, CBS7.com reported.

A woman with young children told NewsWest9.com that she hopes her children won’t have to deal with such an outbreak when they grow up.

“Honestly this happens in any town, but just for it to hit close to home, I mean parents need to be aware of the situation and make sure they tell their kids to be safe and practice safe sex,” Diana Martinez said.