Strangers in the Night
Prostitutes, overseas business travelers and tourists are often blamed for the spread of STD. Yet the facts prove otherwise. There is now evidence neither prostitutes, travelers nor tourists are the main sources of infection. Young people between the ages of 15 and 30 are the top transmitters of STD.
A young man is more at risk of infection from a casual girlfriend than from a prostitute. The reasons are the “silent reservoir” syndrome and because young men are still reluctant to use condoms. While condom protection against STD is accepted by travelers and prostitutes, young women in the community find it difficult to persuade their partners to take protective measures.
Within each community there is a pool of STD infection. If young women are the silent reservoirs, how did they contract STD in the first place? Which man in the community, young or old, married or single, preacher or atheist, passed it on? To focus on only one group is to ignore STD as multi-linked throughout a community.
If therapy is sought at the first signs of disease, most STD can be quickly cured. Men have early and obvious symptoms, so it is they who have the chance to reduce the pool of infection in their community. They can:
- Stop partner sex at once.
- Seek prompt medical help.
- Inform their partners.
Women have no such choices. They require a health check at each new sexual encounter to find out if they have been infected. Contrary to popular adage, all is not fair in love and war.
The Repeaters
The repeaters are young men who keep catching, and passing on STD. They regard the “clap” or “drip” as little more bothersome than the common cold. Indeed, some of the cruder ones boast of how often they have been infected, and cured. Ironically, it is the efficiency of modern antibiotics which has given rise to this “don’t care” attitude.
Familiarity Breeds Contempt
And it breeds STD! Some repeaters take a course of antibiotics each time they change partners. They do not consider it is their responsibility to warn the partner to take a course as well. They often do not bother to complete the course, or they use the wrong antibiotic, or they take a dose which is too low to be effective. The symptoms vanish, but they remain infectious. They eschew condoms; what is the point when antibiotics work so well?
Self-medication with antibiotics (for any reason) can cause serious medical and social problems. With repeated use, bacteria have time to develop resistance and eventually the drugs lose their effect. In 1988, the U.S. Surgeon General reported a 75 percent increase in penicillin-resistant gonorrhea and syphilis from 1987; one year alone in which the killer AIDS was rampant.
In countries such as Thailand, which men visit for “sex holidays”, antibiotics are costly. Prostitutes may be given such low doses that they, and so their clients, develop penicillin-resistant STD. Travelers from remote areas bring back new strains against which antibiotics do not work. To date, not enough is known about the wide variety of organisms which cause STDs.
Antibiotics cannot destroy viruses. They are powerless against AIDS, herpes and condyloma, all of which may be linked to cancer. Both AIDS and cancer can be fatal. Other STD viruses can cause birth defects, sterility, joint disease and progressive, permanent health problems. The repeater appears blithely unaware of the risks he takes. He also seems unaware of the damage he is doing to this partner.
Tags: condoms