Taking a sexual education course in middle school was very awkward. I knew that the stuff we were learning was important, but it ultimately led to weird awkward glances at my friends. I wasn’t really determined at the time to take the information and really comprehend what was being talked about. Honestly, sexual education information didn’t really impact me until I got to college and I got serious about going to pharmacy school. Beginning to take various health and biology courses really opened my mind to the lasting impacts of diseases that can be transmitted between people through sexual intercourse. There are various STD’s that can be discussed, but one that has had the most attention lately is Syphilis and that is what this blog will focus upon.
In a review article called, “The Modern Epidemic of Syphilis“, researchers are beginning to see that incidences of syphilis are reaching levels that we have not seen in almost 20 years. There is an increasing prevalence of the disease among men (between 2014 and 2018, incidence among increased by a factor of 3) and there are reports that are showing high correlation between syphilis and the increased likelihood of contracting HIV. Also, it was seen that with the use of illicit drugs, the incidence of contracting syphilis increased by a factor of 6 which presents an alarming fact. As seen with the epidemiology of the disease, men are at high risk of contracting this disease and this can present problems for their sexual partners. Not only are they also susceptible to contracting the disease, but they have the possibility for contracting other diseases like HIV. The use of drugs are not helping the situation either due to the negative impacts it can have on the immune system and the ability to fight off the disease. With this, I can only think of the immense number of negative effects this can have on a college campus with students wanting to “try new things”. It is so important for us to find the right prevention measures because this disease could result into the same outbreak that was seen with HIV/AIDS. It takes smart and effective prevention by people when partaking in sexual encounters.
The article previously mentioned speaks on the need for a vaccine that can be used to decrease rates of syphilis in the populations. It also speaks on the anonymity of individual who use geo-social networking apps (we can think of Tinder and Bumble for example) and how these apps make it difficult for people to meet and actually get to know each other. This is very evident in college with the high usage of these types of apps by college students and how this presents many problems (physically and mentally) for young adults. In another article titled, “Recommendations for Providing Quality Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinical Services, 2020“, concludes that specialized STD care should focus “on the delivery of timely, comprehensive, confidential, and culturally sensitive STD clinical services”. It also speaks on the need for on-site injectable antimicrobial (for gonorrhea and syphilis) and being able to take down correct medical history of patients. I think services like this should be more accessible for college students on campus. I believe that as a students walks into campus health there should be specific individuals that are available to talk to so that they can see the appropriate medical personnel. Also, being able to have more information on campus about these services is importnat. Students need to know that these services are easily accessible and that there are people that can help them if they know (or if they need to know) they are dealing with an STD.
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