The same trend, Coley said, may be true among the general public as well.

Data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also indicate a nationwide increase in the number of gonorrhea cases.

The report also says that from January to September of this year there were 19 cases of chlamydia and 3 cases of HIV on campus among students and employees. The report did not have 1998 figures for those two diseases.

UHS has emphasized testing as a means of controlling STDs. Daniel M. Sussner '00, co-director of AIDS Education and Outreach (AEO), said UHS's efforts to promote testing are important because infections can remain dormant and students may not immediately realize they have contracted a disease.

AEO and other student organizations, such as the Peer Contraceptive Counselors (PCC) and the Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC), are providing peer counseling services, teaching sexual education and distributing condoms to help prevent the spread of STDs.

Sussner said AEO performs educational skits about sexual issues for first-year proctor groups.

AEO also provides each upper-class house with a box containing 100 condoms per week, and Sussner said AEO hopes to provide condoms in Harvard Yard in the future.