The incidence of gonorrhea on campus has more than doubled, from four cases in 1998 to nine as of September of this year, according to statistics released by University Health Services (UHS).

Of the nine cases in 1999, 7 were students.

The statistics should "let people know they need to use safe sex guidelines whenever possible," said Dr. Christopher M. Coley '83, chief of medicine for UHS.

But Coley stressed that no hard conclusions could be drawn about the incidence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) at Harvard based on the statistics. He said the small number of gonorrhea cases makes it difficult to assess the disease's prevalence on campus.

Also because some students may opt to go to other area hospitals or clinics to get tested, UHS may not know about every case on campus, he said.

Gonorrhea, commonly called the clap, is a bacterial infection that if not treated can cause sterility. It can be treated with antibiotics.

This "minor blip-up" in the numbers of gonorrhea cases, Coley said, may be the result of students' overconfidence stemming from new medical technologies.

Some individuals, he said, think that the proliferation of medications that combat the effects of many diseases has caused some sexually active students to disregard the need for condoms or other protection.