Raising Herpes and HPV Awareness
Saturday, 05 March 2011 08:38 | Last Updated on Saturday, 05 March 2011 19:34 | 
Written by Administrator | 
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Why Should We Raise Awareness for Herpes and HPV?
Simply Because They Are No Longer Someone Else’s Diseases!
A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study released in March 2008 estimates that one in four (26%) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States – i.e., 3.2 million teenage girls – are infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases:
1. Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
2. Chlamydia
3. Herpes simplex virus, and
4. Trichomoniasis
And if that isn’t alarming enough, CDC also estimates that 19 million STD infections occur annually, almost half of them among youth ages 15 to 24, which is our most productive age group!
It gets worse.
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in a February 2002 editorial that the number of people with asymptomatic STDs far exceeds those whose diseases are diagnosed. This implies that we are only scratching at the surface --- the beast is bigger than what we imagine it to be!
Don’t be overly optimistic about your sexual health needs.
Research reveals that when it comes to sexual health, people are often over optimistic. They think, they are fitter than their peers, when the reverse may be truer!
Although the risk factors for these diseases are well-known --- multiple casual sex partners, smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day, not using a condom, and previous STI contagions --- college students often do not have a good grasp over the situation. They are unable to perceive the co-relation between risky behaviors and high susceptibility to either Herpes or HPV.
This despite the fact that once they come to know the symptoms or severity of the disease, they automatically begin to engage in healthier behaviors. But the first step is to be informed, re-examine existing lifestyle and begin to understand the complexities and consequences of their disease situation.
How Can This Happen to Me?
Typically, a woman’s first response to finding out her HPV status is “How could this happen to me?” Women in particular, register massive amount of shock as there is a strongly-held stereotype that “respectable girls,” do not get venereal infections.
Awareness can combat fear psychosis.
Studies indicate that people may know that condoms prevent unwanted pregnancies, but they are not aware that barrier methods are good for preventing sexually transmitted infections too!
Another prevailing myth --- having HPV is a sure sign of cervical cancer!
Women typically believe that abnormal Pap smears with positive HPV testing are a dead giveaway of cervical cancer. The truth however is that only a small percentage of these women progress to a chronic stage. However before that happens, the anxiety over the disease is a worse killer than the disease itself!
Awareness can combat misleading information.
Fear can be killed with education, and medical information. Young people must be made aware that condoms are important for safe sex. They may not protect against external genital warts, but they will surely protect against cervical infection.
Awareness is good for disclosure.
Disclosure promotes trust, intimacy, and communication in any relationship.
One study found that although 50% of female patients said they planned to inform future partners of their HPV status, only 30% actually had the courage to do so! Their fear of rejection was stronger than their concern about NOT infecting their partners.
The result?
Their decision NOT to inform eventually led to a break-up.
Awareness can combat risky behaviour.
Experience often is the best teacher. Studies indicate that women with a history of abnormal Pap smears know far more than their male counterparts and were quicker in changing their high-risk behavior.
To sum it up...
There is very little authentic sources of information out there...that gap must be filled.
Further health education efforts for Herpes and HPV should address both males and females and must cover the following issues:
The difference between genital wart associated (low risk) HPV and cervical cancer associated (high risk) HPV
Risk factors for cervical cancer
A realistic perspective of the incidence of cervical cancer among women exposed to HPV
HPV prevalence
HPV in males
The effectiveness of the vaccine in certain cases
Reassuring statistics regarding potential effects on fertility
The appropriate use and limitations of HPV testing
Prevention aspects including condom use, smoking avoidance particularly among women with a history of HPV, and appropriate use of the HPV vaccine.
Ideally, these issues should be addressed in small informal gatherings in colleges, on educational websites, or during individual health care check-ups. All said and done, the first thing to remember about Herpes and HPV is once you've got them, you can't get rid of them. All you can then do is keep them under control.
Simply Because They Are No Longer Someone Else’s Diseases!
A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study released in March 2008 estimates that one in four (26%) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States – i.e., 3.2 million teenage girls – are infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases:
1. Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
2. Chlamydia
3. Herpes simplex virus, and
4. Trichomoniasis
And if that isn’t alarming enough, CDC also estimates that 19 million STD infections occur annually, almost half of them among youth ages 15 to 24, which is our most productive age group!
It gets worse.
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in a February 2002 editorial that the number of people with asymptomatic STDs far exceeds those whose diseases are diagnosed. This implies that we are only scratching at the surface --- the beast is bigger than what we imagine it to be!
Don’t be overly optimistic about your sexual health needs.
Research reveals that when it comes to sexual health, people are often over optimistic. They think, they are fitter than their peers, when the reverse may be truer!
Although the risk factors for these diseases are well-known --- multiple casual sex partners, smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day, not using a condom, and previous STI contagions --- college students often do not have a good grasp over the situation. They are unable to perceive the co-relation between risky behaviors and high susceptibility to either Herpes or HPV.
This despite the fact that once they come to know the symptoms or severity of the disease, they automatically begin to engage in healthier behaviors. But the first step is to be informed, re-examine existing lifestyle and begin to understand the complexities and consequences of their disease situation.
How Can This Happen to Me?
Typically, a woman’s first response to finding out her HPV status is “How could this happen to me?” Women in particular, register massive amount of shock as there is a strongly-held stereotype that “respectable girls,” do not get venereal infections.
Awareness can combat fear psychosis.
Studies indicate that people may know that condoms prevent unwanted pregnancies, but they are not aware that barrier methods are good for preventing sexually transmitted infections too!
Another prevailing myth --- having HPV is a sure sign of cervical cancer!
Women typically believe that abnormal Pap smears with positive HPV testing are a dead giveaway of cervical cancer. The truth however is that only a small percentage of these women progress to a chronic stage. However before that happens, the anxiety over the disease is a worse killer than the disease itself!
Awareness can combat misleading information.
Fear can be killed with education, and medical information. Young people must be made aware that condoms are important for safe sex. They may not protect against external genital warts, but they will surely protect against cervical infection.
Awareness is good for disclosure.
Disclosure promotes trust, intimacy, and communication in any relationship.
One study found that although 50% of female patients said they planned to inform future partners of their HPV status, only 30% actually had the courage to do so! Their fear of rejection was stronger than their concern about NOT infecting their partners.
The result?
Their decision NOT to inform eventually led to a break-up.
Awareness can combat risky behaviour.
Experience often is the best teacher. Studies indicate that women with a history of abnormal Pap smears know far more than their male counterparts and were quicker in changing their high-risk behavior.
To sum it up...
There is very little authentic sources of information out there...that gap must be filled.
Further health education efforts for Herpes and HPV should address both males and females and must cover the following issues:
The difference between genital wart associated (low risk) HPV and cervical cancer associated (high risk) HPV
Risk factors for cervical cancer
A realistic perspective of the incidence of cervical cancer among women exposed to HPV
HPV prevalence
HPV in males
The effectiveness of the vaccine in certain cases
Reassuring statistics regarding potential effects on fertility
The appropriate use and limitations of HPV testing
Prevention aspects including condom use, smoking avoidance particularly among women with a history of HPV, and appropriate use of the HPV vaccine.
Ideally, these issues should be addressed in small informal gatherings in colleges, on educational websites, or during individual health care check-ups. All said and done, the first thing to remember about Herpes and HPV is once you've got them, you can't get rid of them. All you can then do is keep them under control.
