Mississippi leads the nation in chlamydia and gonorrhea cases, while coming in fifth in cases of syphilis and sixth in reported cases of HIV, according to the Mississippi Department of Health.
April is STI Awareness Month and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of all new STI cases occur in people aged 15 to 24.
JuLeigh Baker, health and wellness department educator, said sexually-active students should be well aware of the hazards of having unprotected sexual activity, such as sexually transmitted infections.
“It could cost them their life,” she said. “Several STDs left untreated can lead to death.”
According to the CDC, the United States has approximately 19 million new infections each year, leading to a cost of 17 billion to the healthcare system. Untreated STIs cause at least 24,000 women in the U.S. to become infertile.
Gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis are all treatable.
According to the Mississippi Department of Health, Oktibbeha County had 332 reported cases of chlamydia, 102 reported cases of gonorrhea and seven reported cases of early-stage syphilis in 2010.
“There’s the misconception that only ‘dirty people’ have STIs,” Baker said. “They look at someone, and they don’t see any breakouts, and they assume a person is clean. Most STIs don’t have symptoms.”
Angelia Clinton, health and wellness department graduate assistant, said there are several reasons some individuals choose to have unprotected sex.
“Some people have said they don’t use protection because of trust or they’re in committed relationships,” Clinton said. “You can trust a person if they’re 100 percent honest, and you never know if they’re really honest.”
When it comes to protection, Clinton said there are options for everybody.
“There are male and female condoms, barriers such as cervical caps and diaphragms and sponges, some that are just going to help prevent pregnancy but don’t prevent the spread of an STI,” Baker said. “Condoms prevent pregnancy and STIs, but dental dams work for STI prevention and not contraception.”
Baker said “condom goody packs” that contain eight male condoms, one female condom, lubrication and instructions are available at the entrance of the Longest Student Health Center “Complete and total abstinence is the only safe option,” she said. “Oral sex is not completely safe. More diagnoses of oral cancer can be attributed to STIs; even intimate touching can lead to STIs. HPV can be spread just by intimate touching.”
Clinton said she does presentations by request all across campus on sex education in which she mentions abstinence but also covers all types of protection and contraception.
“A lot of people have said on more than one occasion that (MSU) should have a required sexual education class,” she said. Baker said the state of Mississippi does not have extensive sexual education in high school, so misconceptions are abundant.
For students, The Longest Student Health Center provides STI testing.
Now through the end of June students can have testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia free of charge as part of a pilot study with the Mississippi Department of Health.
The Oktibbeha County Health Department offers testing free of charge, but it takes approximately two weeks to get the results.
Clinton said the term “STI” is used instead of STD due to political correctness.
The word “disease” has more of a negative connotation as opposed to “infection,” which gives the idea that it is treatable and can be cured, she said.
Baker said more information can be found at health.msstate.edu.