Possibly the worst news that a college student can receive is that a random one-night stand gave them a disease that will stay with them for a lifetime. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 33,000 Americans acquire a sexually transmitted disease (STD) every day, more than 12 million Americans acquire an STD each year, and at least one in four Americans will have an STD during their lives.
While students at colleges and universities throughout the US are aware that STDs pose a harsh reality and a serious threat to their health, many students feel that they are fairly uninformed about the signs and symptoms of STDs.
Regular checkups and subsequent treatments are effective steps towards preventing the spread of STDs and other related diseases. However, many students here at Tufts reveal that they do not get tested regularly because STDs do not pose an important enough threat in their daily lives.
One sophomore indicated that he had hardly considered the risk of contracting an STD. "Probably the most I'd do would be to wear a condom," the student said. "I wouldn't go further than that, since I haven't thought about it enough. I wouldn't get a STD check either. It's just not something I worry about."
Other students felt that, while STDs pose a terrifying risk, they do not know enough about the symptoms and the eventual effects. "I don't think I know everything there is to know about them... but the threat alone would definitely influence my decisions," Anna, a junior, said.
Anna further explained that, despite receiving a certain amount of education about STDs, many of her peers do not appear to moderate their sexual activity accordingly. "I think that my friends are educated about STDs, but that doesn't seem to influence their behaviors much, if at all."
Mark, a freshman, felt similarly. "My friends at home are probably more informed than my friends at Tufts about STDs. They are certainly conscious of them as a potential risk. But it doesn't change how they act, since they don't worry about them on a regular basis," he said.
Other students, like Margaret, a sophomore, regard STDs with a similar combination of caution and a lack of education. "I would definitely use a condom if I didn't know someone's sexual background, because I know some symptoms of STDs, but I don't know everything about every disease," she said.
Margaret finds that her friends do express anxiety about STDs, but, like Mark's friends, they do not exercise as much caution as they should when making sexual decisions. "My friends are generally concerned with STDs, and condom use is an important factor. However, I'm sure they could be more careful," Margaret said.
Susan, a sophomore, observed that a discrepancy exists between students' knowledge of the risk of pregnancy and the risk of STDs through sexual intercourse.
"I've talked to my female friends who are getting on the pill just so they can go off to college and have rampant sex without worrying about getting pregnant," she said. "They don't even consider the huge amount of diseases they could get from sex , let alone something like oral sex."
"The least thing you should be worrying about is getting pregnant. I am really careful about who I do what with because of all the horrible things that could happen," Susan continued.
Some students say they feel awkward about discussing STDs, and that this inhibition prevents most people from speaking frankly about behavior and the associated risks.
"Although I'm scared to death of STDs, it is not something you talk about on a daily basis. People have trouble with that aspect of it, but I think you should be informed of your partner's sexual history beforehand," said Pat, a freshman.
A recent study by NIAID further demonstrates the urgency for students to get STD checkups on a regular basis to reduce the rates of infection. Researchers from NIAID have focused on villages in Uganda, where roughly 16 percent of the population is infected with HIV and other STDs. Infected and healthy sample groups received antibiotic treatment for a wide range of STDs.
While the treatments did not affect the infection rate of HIV in the sample villages, they did significantly reduce the rate of other STDs, according to Nelson Sewankambo of Makerere University, Kampala, who served as the primary investigator of the study.
"The mass treatment intervention substantially reduced STDs amongst pregnant women and resulted in marked improvement in maternal and infant health," Sewankambo said. "These findings could help define new strategies for STD control in pregnancy."
In keeping with Sewankambo's advice, some students do make a conscious effort to protect themselves by carefully choosing their sexual partners, having regular STD checkups, and undergoing any necessary treatments
"I am indeed educated about STDs, and I have been tested several times. [STDs] certainly figure heavily into how I make sexual decisions," a junior said. "I don't have much random sex, and when I do, I use a condom. However, I do know a lot of people that have random sex - my friends are not as aware of the dangers as I am."
Barbara, a sophomore, has second hand experience of the effects of STDs on the eventual health of infected people.
"My mom works as an assistant in a clinic where she sees a lot of women who have contracted STDs," she said. "A lot of STDs are invisible to the naked eye, and, especially if you're female, you should get checkups regularly, even if you think everything's normal."
"If you were pregnant, if you were sexually active, you'd think that people would make an effort to get checked out. You would hope that, once people found out they were carrying an STD, they would act responsibly," Barbara continued.
While he does not know many people who are sexually active, Larry, a sophomore, felt that his peers seem to be somewhat educated and knowledgeable about the subject. He pointed to panels like "Why No Means No," that took place during freshman orientation, and to the distribution of condoms in centers of student activity around campus as actions that further educate students about sexual risks by making the information accessible.
"It's geared towards prevention, which is very necessary," Larry said. "I think we are very much aware of what to do to prevent STDs. Even if you didn't want to be aware of STDs, you would still know the facts."
Where only first names appear, names have been changed to preserve anonymity.
