As you head to Tigerland next Saturday night to celebrate the end of finals week and the beginning of summer, sexually transmitted infections will likely be the last thing on your mind.
Nineteen million Americans contract STIs each year. While that number might seem daunting, keep in mind that the average adult human contracts the common cold twice a year. Both are treatable, and there are measures you can take to keep from infecting others.
Your sexual education probably included a lot of scare tactics to keep you from having sex. And unfortunately, sexually transmitted infections are the biggest pawn. But a proper and effective sexual education course would teach students how to deal with a positive status, how to engage in healthy and safe sexual activity during the infection and how to tell a potential partner about their positive status.
But instead, we’ve kept quiet about sex. And by doing so, we have only made it more likely that those with an STI will go untested and continue to spread the infection.
The easiest way to manage an STI is to catch it early. If you participate in risky sexual behavior, get tested immediately. Call the Student Health Center, make an appointment for an STI test.
I might be the first person to tell you this, but it’s true: getting an STI is not the worst thing that can happen to you. In many ways, it’s just like any other sort of sickness.
But there is a stigma attached to sexually transmitted infections because of the sexually transmitted part, when they aren’t really a special kind of sickness.
HPV is a common virus that infects more than half of sexually active humans at some point. There are 100 different strains of HPV, each manifesting in different ways. Some strains result in topical warts on body parts other than genitalia.
Cold sores, or fever blisters, are another common virus known as herpes simplex virus. That’s right, herpes on your mouth. This form of herpes can be transmitted through sharing drinks or kissing.
STIs range from annoying but harmless to cancer causing, just like any other virus. Most are curable through antibiotics or topical creams. But all are manageable.
Contracting an STI is not the end of your life — or your sex life. But that isn’t an excuse to have unprotected sex. In fact, knowingly spreading an STI to a partner is punishable by law.
You’re more likely to contract a sexually transmitted infection through having sex, but it shouldn’t be fueling a fear in your sex life. The shame that comes from contracting an STI is one of the underlying causes of the rate in which they spread in our society.
When we identify a chance of failure in any situation, we can begin to fear it. Because of a fear of having an STI, many choose not to get tested for them. It’s frightening to take a test when it could go either way.
Pretending that sexually transmitted infections are uncommon and that only dirty or sexually promiscuous people will contract them is dangerous. Any sexually active human being, no matter age, gender, sexual orientation or race is at risk for an STI.
The best form of protection is to be proactive. So when you head out to Tigerland, make sure you’ve got protection for both you and your partner.
And then don’t sweat it.
Jana King is a 19-year-old communication studies sophomore from Ponchatoula, La.