STIs, STDs still risky business in N.D.
Cooties used to be the only “disease” girls and boys had to worry about receiving. When the same girls and boys become women and men, though, diseases have different names that aren’t as pronounceable.
Sexually transmitted diseases or infections are a well-known topic students learn about during high school. In college, young adults are often more educated about making decisions concerning STIs.
STI has become a more common term than STD.
“ We used to always use STD, but when we’re looking at a lot of the STDs they’re actually infections,” Larry Aneson Jr., health educator at the Wellness Center, said.
Dr. Steven Glunberg is a physician and medical director at the student health center in the Wellness Center. Glunberg has seen different types of STI throughout his seven years at NDSU.
Types of STIs and STDs
A common STI Glunberg has treated is Molluscum, a viral infection that is not always contracted through sexual conduct.
“ Molluscum can be transmitted from skin to skin contact. It isn’t always sexually transmitted,” Glunberg said. “Both sexes can have that.”
Gonorrhea and Chlamydia are two very common STIs that students are screened for at the student health center.
Both diseases are alike regarding their symptoms and transmission between two people. According to the American College Health Association, the two can be transmitted through contact with the infected fluid, mucus or semen, to a mucus membrane, cervix or urethra.
According to the American Social Health Association, “a pap smear is a screening to find abnormal cell changes on the cervix.”
“ The vast majority of women who come in for pap smears have STI screening and a lot of times just come in without symptoms,” Glunberg said.
STDs, on the other hand, are more serious and are usually permanent, whereas STIs can usually be treated.
A common STD, Human Papillomavirus, or genital warts, is most prevalent among women. HPV usually shows no symptoms and is discovered during an abnormal pap smear.
“ We used to think that was a forever thing … but more recent studies show that probably 90 percent (of) your immune system clears it out within about a year and a half,” Glunberg said. “But there are some viruses of HPV that would need treatment.”
Herpes, an STD, is also becoming more common. Almost 90 percent of people who have Herpes don’t realize they are infected, Glunberg said.
The student health center provides free HIV testing, both a blood test and an oral swab test. Contrary to some beliefs, there are people in North Dakota who have the HIV virus, Aneson said.
“ There still are some people who believe that STIs or HIV is something that happens in New York or California ... that it doesn’t happen here in North Dakota, but it does,” Aneson said.
The amount of students contracting STIs has slightly increased over the past three years at the student health center. In 2003, 2.7 percent of the screenings for Chlamydia were positive. An increase appeared of 1.2 percent of the people screened in 2004 and rose again to 4.3 percent in 2005.
The number of students being screened has also increased over the past three years. An increase of almost 130 students occurred from 2003 to 2005. The number of students screened in 2005 was 569.
Preventing STIs and STDs
Students are becoming more educated about STIs, which is possibly the reason for the low numbers of positive screenings, Anenson said.
“ We would like students to abstain, but for many students that’s not a realistic goal or outcome,” Anenson said. “So then we visit with students about ways that they can make safer sexual activities.”
Abstinence is the safest protection from any STI, but there are other ways students can protect themselves. Limiting the number of sexual partners, being screened once a year for STI and communicating with partners can all help prevent the spread of STI, Aneson said.
Glunberg said it is also important to use condoms but it doesn’t protect a person as much as most people think.
“ Condoms don’t eliminate the risk of STI,” he said. “(They) are more effective with some infections than others.”
Once a person knows they have contracted an STI or STD, he or she should contact a health care provider, Glunberg said. The physician will discuss with the person how the STI or STD can be treated. The person should also abstain from any sexual activity to prevent transmitting the STI or STD.
Partners of those with an STI or STD can be at risk of having the STI transmitted to them.
“ Sometimes people forget about the partner and that’s why it’s so important to have open communication,” Aneson said.