Popular culture often depicts college life as a four-year-long hookup, where partying students engage in spontaneous sexual activities with drunken lovers without consequence or discretion.
The reality of the situation is not as clean. Rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) mean that sexually active students need to be both more cautious and more aware.
Syphilis, Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and chancroid are all on the rise, according to a national annual survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Several of these infections are spreading rapidly on college campuses.
Young people ages 15 to 24 have five times the reported Chlamydia rate and three times the reported syphilis rate than the general population, according to the CDC Web site. The site also reported that men had a syphilis rate six times higher than women in 2007.
"Chlamydia... is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection in the United States," said Elizabeth Heyden, a nurse educator for Student Health & Wellness, in an e-mail. "The highest rates of infection [are] among 15-19 year-old women and 20-24 year-old men."
However, since syphilis and Chlamydia are bacterial STIs, they can be treated with antibiotics.
The most commonly reported viral STI is human papillomavirus, which has over 100 types, Heyden explained.
"Types six and 11 cause the majority of genital warts and types 16 and 18 cause the majority of cervical cancer," Heyden said. "These are viral infections that are not curable with antibiotics."
Genital herpes and genital warts are decreasing in frequency.
A student must first detect an STI before it can be treated, and not all STIs have noticeable symptoms. A person can have Chlamydia or syphilis without showing any visible signs.
"There is a large amount of students that may have an STI and don't even know it and could be passing it on to their partners," said Susan Snyder, director of Student Health Services. "There are certainly college age students who have herpes and don't know it until they have an outbreak."
Snyder recommends that students get tested regularly so that they can know their status and make smart decisions regarding their health, as well as their partners'.
There are tests available for all STIs at the campus health center in Michael Hall. Some STI tests require a small blood sample, while many others require only a simple a urine sample.
"The health center is a great place for [students] to not only seek diagnosis but also treatment," Snyder said. "If they are concerned they can make an appointment and we can get them in relatively quickly. If they want to know their status it is a great place to come."
Snyder explained that the health center has a partnership with Erie County Public laboratory that allows students to get tested for multiple STIs at one time for little cost and no co-pay from their insurance, which also provides more confidentiality.
If students are symptomatic it is faster to get tested at a local laboratory, however it may require a payment from their insurance.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
