When most people think of sexually transmitted diseases, crabs — or pubic lice — does not always come to mind. But according to health officials, it should.
Bayer — a company that makes an over-the-counter treatment for crabs — is launching an informational campaign about crabs in college student health care centers across the country.
An informational postcard will be coming to the University’s Student Health Center next week.
According to the American Social Health Association, three million cases of the highly contagious pubic lice hit mostly young college students each year.
A Medical College of Wisconsin – Milwaukee study concluded that an outbreak of pubic lice may be predictive of another, more serious sexually transmitted disease, such as chlamydia or gonorrhea.
“If you pick up one STD, you probably picked up another,” said Mary Cross, Student Health Center physician.
In a press release from SENSEI Masterful Health Communications, the No. 1 way to get crabs is through sexual skin-to-skin contact. However, it is possible, but not probable, to contract crabs from bed linens, towels or clothes.
Wellness Education coordinator Kathryn T. Saichuk said a person cannot contract crabs from a toilet seat because they need a warm human body to survive.
“They are just one of many insects that feast on human blood,” Cross said.
Pubic lice, slightly larger than sesame seeds, look like miniature crabs and are found in men and wom’s genital areas. Symptoms of crabs include extreme itching of the genital areas.
“It’s pretty obvious when you have them,” Saichuk said. “With this, you’re going to know.”
Unlike other sexually transmitted diseases, a quick and easy solution exists for crabs. A recent Centers for Disease Control report said over-the-counter treatment like RID Lice Killing Shampoo can eliminate crabs quickly and effectively.
Saichuk said a topical cream can be used for 10 minutes to treat crabs, and it takes seven to 10 days to completely work.
In the recent theatrical release, “A Guy Thing,” actor Jason Lee contracts crabs and buys an over-the-counter treatment to get rid of them. According to Bayer, with comic exposure of crabs in movies and in HBO’s “Sex and the City,” stigmas associated with STDs may change.
The press release urges students displaying crabs symptoms to immediately tell their partner and consider being checked for other STDs.