Why Are STIs on the Rise ... In Idaho

Hello, All!  Let me first of all disclose.  The rise of sexually transmitted infections is not simply limited to Idaho.  The reason I have chosen Idaho specifically to focus on in this post is because my Mom lives in Idaho, and I was on the phone with her when I got the inspiration for this topic.  When I started research for this topic, however, the key words "STI on the rise" spawned dozens, no, hundreds of search results for locations from California to Pennsylvania, and Canada to Australia.  After further research, it can most certainly be concluded that we are not dealing with a local epidemic, or even a national one; the rise of STIs is something that is affecting us on a global level.  But for the sake of simplicity, in this post I will be primarily focusing on the United States, with a concentration specifically on Idaho.

What are STIs?
So why are the rates of STIs on the rise?  Well, to really understand that, we first need to discuss the language revolving around sexually transmitted injections.  Most people will refer to them as either STIs (sexually transmitted infections) or STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).  It is heavily disputed which one is more medically accurate, but either way it is important to understand what they really are.  Sexually transmitted infections are infections that are spread through sexual membranes, and usually through sexual contact.  The higher risk forms of sexual contact that can be modes of transmitting infection are anal to genital contact, genital to genital contact, oral to genital contact, or oral to oral contact.  There are other types of sexual contact that can also be modes of transmitting infection, but those are generally considered to be higher risk.  Think of it like this.  If you have a head cold, you know, one where your nose can't decide whether or not to be stuffy or runny, and you're coughing a lot, you are less likely to get the person next to you sick just by sitting next to them.  But chances increase a bit more if you also shake their hand with your infectious spit covered one and they proceed to touch their face with that same hand, transmitting the infection that you gave them through their permeable membranes.  Sexual membranes are capable of passing on infection on that same way, there are just some membranes that do the job a little bit better.  Now, where the language debate comes in is in separating the difference between a disease and an infection.  According to the Mayo Clinic, an infection is the first step to a disease.  That's where the bacteria, or whatever it is that causes you to get sick, first get's into your body.  A disease is often where the signs of an illness begin to appear, and where the infection damages the cells in your body.  A lot of sexually transmitted infections are present for weeks, and even months, without showing any outward signs of illness.  Thus a lot of sexually transmitted infections never become sexually transmitted diseases.  That is why it is commonly considered more accurate to refer to sexually transmitted infections as infections, rather than diseases.  Also, referring to sexually transmitted infections as infections rather than diseases helps to break down some of the stigma and shame that are associated with developing a sexually transmitted infection.  Given that sex is still so stigmatized, and that diseases can often be debilitating, it is easy to adopt the mindset that participating in sexual activity made you sick, thus giving sex a bad rap.  This type of mindset can make it harder to access safer sex practices such as getting tested and using protection, which may be a cause for the increasing rate of sexually transmitted infections, though we'll break down that possibility a little bit more later on.

Another bit of language that we'll need to analyze is the use of "safe sex" or "safer sex."  The use of "safe sex" developed with the development of contraception.  The development of barrier methods such as condoms and dental dams, as well as hormonal methods such as the pill and IUD's, or Intrauterine Devices, gave us all a since of safety in the bedroom.  We no longer needed to worry so much about whether we would pick up an infection or get pregnant because tools were developed to help decrease those risks.  We could focus more on the pleasure we were receiving, as opposed to those risks.  Thus, we may have gotten a tad too confident in our bedroom activities, thus opening ourselves up more to infection and pregnancy.  The thing is, those methods that were developed for our safety are not foul proof.  According to Planned Parenthood, with average use, 15 out of 100 women who use condoms as their only form of contraception will likely get pregnant, despite the use of condoms, every year.  That's 15 out of a hundred women who have sex with men, and then 15 out of a hundred men who were the sexual partners of those women in the study that opened themselves up to infection with the use of condoms.  Even with contraception, sex is not 100% safe.  That's why it's important for us to modify our language to reflect that there are methods that can be put in place to make sex safer.

What infections are on the rise?
Now, in an effort to understand why sexually transmitted infections are on the rise, it is also important to understand, which types of injections are most affected by this rise, and which populations are being hit the hardest.  Chlamydia has pretty much always been a large concern surrounding specifically populations who were assigned female at birth.  According to the CDC, biological females account for over half of those diagnosed with chlamydia.  This much hasn't really changed that much.  It's gonorrhea and syphilis that we now need to worry about.  Syphilis alone faced an 18% increase between 2015 and 2016.  This increase occurred primarily with men who have sex with men.  There was also a 36% increase of syphilis amongst biological women, and a 28% increase of congenital syphilis, a type of syphilis which is contracted by newborns from their mother's during pregnancy.  Likewise, while gonorrhea has increased between both men and women, it has primarily increased amongst men, by 22% in fact.

It should go without saying that the the fact that these infections are increasing can pose some serious health risks for those infected.  Chlamydia is probably one of the least damaging of these infections.  With proper treatment, it only lasts for a few weeks, and sometimes only days.  Symptoms of chlamydia are usually just limited to genital pain and vaginal or penile discharge.  Often times, though, chlamydia exhibits no symptoms, which is what allows it to pass on so easily.  Gonorrhea exhibits itself much the same way that chlamydia does.  According to a source from Planned Parenthood, you may not be able to tell that you have gonorrhea until up to a week after you were infected.  Symptoms at that point may include pain during urination, abnormal vaginal or penile discharge, pain and swelling in the testicles, and bleeding outside of menstruation.  Syphilis, on the other hand, is a little bit of a different story.  It can often take months to cure when treated properly, and when not, it can lead to serious complications with the brain and heart.  Syphilis begins usually with a painless sore at the site of the infection, but in it's later stages can present itself much like the flu, with swollen lymph nodes and a fever.  Syphilis can also be passed from a mother to a child during pregnancy, which can lead to a variety of pregnancy complications, including miscarriage.

Why is this happening?
Now, there are quite a few reasons why the rate of these infections is starting to pick up.  It may be due to the fact that we are not getting tested frequently enough, or that we are not using barrier methods properly in order to reduce our chances of infection, and while I think those reasons do contribute to the reason that sexually transmitted infections are on the rise, I think that it is all linked to a much bigger reason.

We live in a sex negative culture.

We all know that sex education, let alone comprehensive and non biased sex education, is hard to come by.  But I hope the statistics I'm about to give you both shock you and scare you into action.  According to the Guttmacher Institute, 24 of the 50 states here in the United States, as well as the District of Columbia require that sex education be covered in schools.  Tennessee only requires sex education to be covered in schools should the rate of teen pregnancy fall above 19%.  Of those 24 states, only 13 require that sex education be medically accurate, and only one specifically requires that sex education "not be medically inaccurate."  In 22 states, parents must be notified of the sex education their kids will be going through as requirement of their schooling.  In 3 states, parents must provide schools consent in order to cover sex education, and 37 states have a back door to these policies, giving parents in option to opt their kids out of any sexual education courses.  Please notice how that number is higher than the number of schools that are even required to provide sex education courses in the first place.  Are you experiencing a tad bit of culture shock yet?  Cause if so, go ahead and put down your phone, pet your dog, maybe water your plants, and then come back here, because I'm just getting started.

37 states must either stress or cover abstinence as it pertains to sex education.  When that education also includes HIV, that number rises to 39.  Only 18 states, as well as the District of Columbia require that when sex education is provided that it include the use of contraception, which may or may not include the use of barrier methods such as condoms.  Only as it pertains to states that allow HIV education, 20 of those states require that the use of condoms be taught as a way to protect against the transmission of HIV.

What is the issue with this?  I know, I stole the words right out of your mouth.  Let me give you a couple of examples of how this information can be read in relation to the rise of STIs.  In Idaho, sex education is not required, and neither is HIV education.  There are no laws requiring sex education in Idaho to be medically accurate, not promote religion, or be unbiased.  There are also no rules regulating whether abstinence must be stressed or covered, but there are also no rules stated that abstinence can't be covered.  There are also no rules on whether contraception needs to be covered.  The only regulation regarding sex education in Idaho is that, should it be provided, parents have the right to opt their children out.  Essentially, there are no rules or regulations regarding sex education in Idaho.  Another example; in Pennsylavania, sex education is not a requirement, however HIV education is.  Parents must be notified should sex education be provided, but can only opt their children out of HIV education.

My point is that it is no wonder that STIs are on the rise when in over half of the country, children don't have to learn about sex, and in most cases don't learn about sex in ways that is medically accurate and non-biased.  If children aren't learning about safer sex behaviors, including the use of contraception and getting tested regularly prior to them becoming sexually active, then they don't have those tools at their disposal when it comes to navigating sexual behavior.  They won't get tested, and they'll wash used condoms and turn them inside out, just to use them again, that is if they even use condoms.

Not to mention, when schools don't provide sex education, it promotes sex shame and only drives the cultural taboos about sex, making it more difficult for kids and adults alike to access resources such as testing centers and contraception.  Not to mention, when kids aren't taught ways to communicate with their parent's about sex, it only promotes the taboo nature around sexual activity.  Really, the only way to completely eliminate the transfer of sexually transmitted infections is if we lived in a completely sex positive and sex aware culture where we weren't afraid to talk about sex.

How can you help?
I know that that seems like an unachievable goal, but there are some ways we can at least become more sex aware.  If you're a parent reading this, don't be afraid to talk to your kids about sex.  Knowing about sex before they become sexually active isn't suddenly going to make them become sexually active, it's just going to give them the tools to have sex more responsibly when they are ready.  If you're an older sibling reading this, don't be afraid to bring this conversation to your younger siblings, especially if your parent's aren't doing the job.  Sadly, parenting isn't always just down to the parents.  A child is raised and nurtured based on the influences of their surroundings.  You have the power to be that influence.  And if there are any teachers reading this, take this conversation to your school board, or even to the county if you need to.  Provide them with the research to back up your proposal for a more comprehensive type of sex education.  Show them this post if you need to!  Our children, our spouses, parents, and siblings are dying because of this epidemic, and you have the power to stop it.  Let your voice be heard.

If you are some other type of community member that I did not mention here, you can help too.  Just don't be afraid to talk about sex.  Volunteer, start a blog, support your favorite sex educators online.  Together, we can raise a generation that is more aware and accepting of sex; we just need to work together.

To conclude, I'm going to walk you through the step by step process of putting on a condom.  If you think you know this already, please read it anyways, and please pass this along to anyone who you may think will need it.

1. Take the condom and carefully separate it from any other condoms it may be attached to.  If you rip another package in the process, either use that one instead or throw it out.
2. Check the package for an expiration date.  This is usually located on the seam of the packaging.  If the condom is expired, toss it out.  Condoms usually last though for several years.
3. Using your hands, push the condom back against the side of the packaging you won't be opening to ensure that you won't rip the condom in the process.  Again, using your hands, not your teeth carefully open one side of the packaging.  For easier clean up, don't completely remove the flap.
4. Using the pads of your fingers, not your fingernails, remove the condom from the packaging.  Make sure the condom will roll the correct way by testing first on your fingers.  The condom should slide easily down your fingers.  If it doesn't, flip the condom inside out and try again.  If you test this on a penis rather than your fingers and it doesn't roll the right way, you will need to get a new condom and try again as there may have already been fluids present on the tip of penis that could spread infection.
5. Once you are sure that the condom is facing the correct way, pinch the tip of the condom in order to block out any air from entering that part of the condom.  That way, the ejaculate has somewhere to go.
6. Firmly hold the base of the object of insertion, such as the penis, in one hand and slowly roll the condom with the other hand.

If you need to actually see that in action, I would suggest checking out YouTube.  I know Laci Green has one on her channel.  You can also find a tutorial on Dr. Lindsey Doe's channel Sexplanations under the video titled "More on Condoms."  Thank you for reading!  If you enjoyed and want to stay in touch, my social media accounts are linked below.

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