Current Events - 1

One current and ongoing event related in part to lack of sexual risk education is the rise in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In the United States, rates for some infections are reaching all time highs, while for others, they are at the highest numbers seen in decades. Of course there are many factors that play into this disturbing trend, but at the root of it, there is little education on these risks in the media, where young people are getting a lot of their understandings of sex. While many of these diseases are very easily curable when discovered in a timely manner, it may not stay that way for long. For example, the high rates of gonorrhea mixed with large amounts of antibiotic use and misuse to treat it is leading to an antibiotic-resistant strain of the disease that could become a very serious world health issue as soon as within the next decade (Pederson, 2018). STDs can also lead to a host of long-term health issues if left untreated, including infertility and cancer, and can be deadly for unborn children (Epigee Women's Health). 

What are the numbers? Well, in just one year, from 2017 to 2018, the number of syphilis cases rose 14 percent to the highest number since 1991. Gonorrhea increased 5%, also hitting its’ highest number of reported cases since 1991. Chlamydia also saw a 3% increase to its’ highest ever reported number at 1.7 million cases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). One could perhaps chalk these numbers up to an increase in screening and awareness, but that would not explain all of it. While 15-24-year-olds only make up a quarter of the sexually active population, they account for a disproportionate percentage of the STD statistics. In 2018, they made up 61.8% of the total diagnosed chlamydia population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). While this can help be explained by the behavioral differences between adolescents versus adults, they are more often single, it still does not change the bottom line that education through the media about STDs and risks involved would very likely make a large impact on these statistics. 

Citations

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, July 30). STDs in Adolescents and Young

Adults - 2018 Sexually Transmitted Diseases Surveillance. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats18/adolescents.htm.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, October 8). STDs Continue to Rise in the

U.S. Press Release. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/2019/2018-STD-surveillance-report-press-release.html.

Epigee Women's Health. (n.d.). Effects of STDs. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from

http://www.epigee.org/effects-of-stds.html.

Pederson, N. (2018, October 1). Gonorrhea could be antibiotic resistant in the next decade.

Retrieved November 28, 2019, from https://www.mndaily.com/article/2018/10/adstd.