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Frederiksberg the leading hub for infections of chlamydia

Liza Bucchin
September 8th, 2017


This article is more than 7 years old.

The city enclave has the distinction of holding a somewhat dubious record

If they live in Frederiksberg, chances are that one of them might be infected (photo: pixabay/stokpic

The highest rates of chlamydia in Denmark can be found in Frederiksberg, where there are an estimated 33 out of 1,000 young people infected, according to a recent report from Sundhedsstyrelsen – Denmark’s national board of health.

The report shows that other hotbeds of the disease include the municipalities of Aalborg, Holstebro, Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.

Often undiagnosed
Rates of infection in towns full of university students are higher than ever before and researchers fear they will only continue to climb, as a lot of people who are infected don’t experience any symptoms, making it hard to diagnose and treat them.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, common symptoms include pain during urination and abnormal discharge.

Untreated, chlamydia can give rise to reduced fertility and involuntary childlessness, pregnancy outside the womb and chronic abdominal pains in women, while among men it can cause inflammation of the testicles.

Greater promiscuity
The report concluded that the cause of these unprecedented rates is a continuous increase in the number of sexual partners that young people have.

Experts say that adolescents are using less protection due to a decrease in the risk of contracting AIDS that de-emphasises condom use. In addition, non-barrier contraceptives such as the pill are growing in popularity.

Sexual promiscuity has become common in the lives of young adults and students, and 80 percent of chlamydia cases are found in people between the ages of 15 and 29.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”