The American Social Health Association (ASHA) recognizes February as National Condom Month. As condoms help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea, I thought I’d talk about STDs this week. Note: the only way to completely protect yourself against STDs is to abstain from sexual activity. However, correctly using condoms dramatically reduces the chances of contracting or spreading STDs.

I know bi-co students are intelligent. And yet sometimes when hearing some of the absurd things people here believe about sexual health, it’s hard to believe. But because there are people from so many walks of life in the bi-co, there are people from all different sex education backgrounds.

So if your roommate says she and her boyfriend only have oral sex because you can’t get STDs that way, she might actually believe it. And it’s your responsibility to tell her that herpes is a great example of a virus she can pick up just from giving a blowjob without using a condom. And if she argues her boyfriend doesn’t have any sores down there, let her know that just because he is symptom-free doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t infected. It is totally possible to have herpes and not even know it. And yes, herpes can be spread from genitals to mouth and vice versa.

STDs often feel like something that only happens to other people. I mean, it’s tough to imagine your boyfriend/girlfriend/friend with benefits/that random hottie from your chemistry class being infected with an STD. But did you know that in the United States one in four sexually active teens becomes infected with an STD each year?

One in four. Say you sleep with a different partner each year of college. That means by the time you graduate you will likely have contracted an STD. Because the majority of people who contract an STD don’t immediately experience any noticeable symptoms, you might not even know you have one.

So next time you’re thinking about having unprotected sex, weigh your choices: wait 20 seconds to put a condom on or risk getting an STD. Doesn’t sound like a tough decision, does it?

You may be wondering why you should care about STDs if they are sometimes symptom-free. First, you should know that just because you don’t initially experience any symptoms doesn’t mean you will remain always symptom-free. It is possible for symptoms to show up a couple months after contracting an STD. The symptoms can be really gross. I don’t want to go into the gory details but blisters near the mouth or genitals? Ew.

STDs can also have long-term effects if left untreated. Syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, for example, can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to sterility.

As for other long-term consequences, there is a strong link between contracting HPV (the virus that causes genital warts) and developing cervical cancer. Additionally, STDs can cause complications in pregnancies.

There are two kinds of STDs: bacterial and viral. As I’m sure you guessed, bacterial STDs are caused by bacteria and viral STDs are caused by viruses. The important thing to know is that bacterial STDs including as gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia can be cured with antibiotics.

The four main types of viral STDs are often known as the four H’s: HIV, HPV, herpes, and hepatitis B. Did you know hepatitis B is the only STD that can be prevented with a vaccine? But while the four H’s have no cure, their symptoms can often be treated.

While it is not possible to contract an STD if neither partner has one, it is important to remember that people often aren’t aware they are infected. If you and your partner absolutely don’t want to use condoms because you are using some other sort of birth control, make sure to get tested for STDs before engaging in sexual activity. Remember you can get STDs from oral and anal sex too!

Health Services offers STD testing. You and your partner could even make a date out of it. Go into Philly, grab lunch, and go to Planned Parenthood. Check out http://www.plannedparenthood.org for locations. It may sound silly, but trust me, it’s better to be safe than sorry!  

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