enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2022
Tainted tests at UCD clinic Staff: Student health center failed to inform patients By Caleb Hampton
By Anne Ternus-Bellamy
Enterprise staff writer In September 2019, a UC Davis student tested positive for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia at the campus’ Student Health and Wellness Center. There was just one problem, medical staff recalled: she hadn’t had sex. At the patient’s insistence, a doctor agreed to retest her before prescribing treatment. This time, the result was negative. To test for chlamydia, Student Health and Counseling Services, which runs the health center, used a nucleic acid amplification test, a highly sensitive technology with a reputation for accuracy. The false result worried clinicians and medical staff. On Oct. 15, SHCS leaders discussed the issue at a meeting. “3 weeks ago a provider had a patient with a positive result for chlamydia (swab test). Patient did not agree so test was rerun with a urine test and it was negative,” the meeting minutes state. Later that day, the laboratory discovered a positive
Enterprise staff writer
concluded deficiencies in its infection control protocol led to contamination, which “created some false positives,” SHCS Director Margaret Trout told The Enterprise, though it was impossible to know when the problems began or how many results were tainted. In the preceding months, from July through September, 44 students tested positive for chlamydia at the student health
Local health officials have moved Yolo County into the “low” risk level for COVID-19 and masking is now considered optional in indoor public settings other than healthcare and longterm care settings where they remain mandatory. The county had actually moved into the low-risk category a week and half ago based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 metrics (focused on case rate and hospitalizations), but rising levels of COVID-19 in wastewater in some parts of the county had prompted Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson to delay changing her recommendation on masking. The CDC’s metrics on case rates are reported with a seven-day lag but wastewater monitoring reflects realtime levels of the virus. Sisson told the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 27 that wastewater monitoring had shown virus levels in Winters and Esparto had “risen sharply.” She said at the time that as health officer, “taking into account increas-
See TAINTED, Page A6
See COVID, Page A4
Caleb Hampton/Enterprise photo
In 2019, the UC Davis student health center’s chlamydia testing was contaminated. Internal records and interviews with medical staff suggest the clinic failed to inform dozens of patients. chlamydia result for a second patient was false. Chlamydia is the most common STI in the world. Testing for it is fast and easy, and the disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics, though if left untreated it can cause lasting damage that increases the risk of infertility and ectopic pregnancy. Because the disease only spreads through sex, a chlamydia diagnosis can also have dramatic social consequences,
especially for people in relationships they presumed were monogamous. “If the patient did not have sex with somebody else, then the assumption is that their partner cheated on them,” said Ina Park, an STI researcher and professor at the UC San Francisco School of Medicine. “Psychologically, it can be devastating.” For nearly a month, SHCS paused its in-house chlamydia testing to investigate the errant results. The health center
Teachers flood board meeting By Aaron Geerts A mass of teachers arrived at Thursday’s meeting of the Davis school board, marking another chapter in the ongoing struggle for Davis Joint Unified School District teachers to receive higher wages. The educators say they remain discontented with being told how valued they are by the board, without receiving the corresponding compensation. Although the board adhered to the meeting agenda, the focal point was the teachers’ collective demand for higher wages. “This year we should be
INDEX
Business ���������� A5 Forum ��������������B4 Op-Ed ��������������B5 Classifieds ������B2 Living ����������������B3 Sports ��������������B1 Comics ������������B6 Obituaries �������� A4 The Wary I �������� A2
DA’s town-hall meeting explores local DUI trends By Lauren Keene
Enterprise staff writer
VOL. 124, NO. 122
Yolo County in ‘low’ risk level for COVID-19
Enterprise staff writer
Aaron Geerts/Enterprise photo
Davis Joint Unified School District teachers crowd the City Hall courtyard ahead of Thursday’s school board meeting. The teachers seek improved compensation on their next contract. enjoying what is, indisputably, the best education budget that California has ever seen,” said David Plaut, a math teacher at Holmes
WEATHER
Junior High School. “But the board is proposing to take an ongoing revenue
See TEACHERS, Page A2
Drunk driving, including Yolo County’s efforts to prosecute cases involving high blood-alcohol levels, takes the spotlight at the Yolo County District Attorney’s next virtual town-hall meeting on Tuesday. These monthly meetings explore data from Commons, the DA’s online data transparency portal that tracks local prosecutions from start to finish. Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled from 3 to 4 p.m. via Zoom. To register, or for more information, visit
yoloda.org/commonstown-hall-meetings/. According to Commons data, DUI investigations from the county’s police agencies Sheriff ’s Office and California Highway Patrol have increased by 30 percent since 2020. Four recent cases that went to trial, along with others ending in plea deals, involved excessive BACs well above the state limit of 0.08 percent. In the jury-trial cases, which resulted in convictions, the BACs ranged from 0.195 to 0.33, according to the DA’s Office.
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