Students have had the education of sexually transmitted diseases pounded in their heads since junior high, yet a lot of students have not taken heed to the hard core facts of this detriment. The medical library of Dr. Joseph F. Smith states that “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 85 percent of the most prevalent infectious diseases in the U.S. are STDs. One in four occur in ages 16 and 19, and almost 65 percent of all infections affect people under the age of 25.” Why should PV students be worried about this epidemic called STDs? A current PV student who wishes to keep her identity confidential confesses: “I thought when someone contracted an STD they would see immediate affects on their body. I did not find out that I had herpes until my boyfriend saw it on his body, got tested, and was diagnosed with herpes. I got scared because I had never seen any evidence of an STD on my body, so I got tested also. Although, to this day, I have never had an outbreak, I can still pass herpes on to someone else. For the rest of my life I have to live with the guilt of not knowing if I am the one who passed it on to him.”
The Center for Disease Control also reports that “women are more likely to contract an STD than men. Syphilis is 60 times higher among African Americans than Caucasians. African Americans are 40 times more likely than Caucasians to develop gonorrhea, and as much as three times more likely to acquire genital herpes.”
“Besides having to live with the reality of knowing there’s not a cure for me, I have to deal with depression, taking medication, and the possibility of never being able to find a significant other that will understand my condition,” states the anonymous student. Other long-term consequences of STDs is that the CDC reports are birth defects, infertility, brain damage, blindness, cancer, heart disease, and death.
If treated early, the prognosis for STD’s caused by bacteria such as gonorrhea and syphilis is usually good and can be cured. On the other hand, with viral diseases such as genital herpes and genital warts, have no cure and will need long-term treatment to suppress outbreaks.
Abstinence is the best way to prevent the contraction of any STD. Those who live an active sex life must use protection, get tested regularly, get educated, and be smart.