STD Testing Blog

Rachel Uchitel, Tiger Woods’ mistress, has reportedly planned to do some testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Uchitel apparently told her friends that she planned on testing after multiple women, including a few porn actresses, claimed they had also had relations with Woods.

Uchitel’s decision to get tested is a smart one indeed. By having sex with Tiger, who supposedly has had unprotected sex with many different women throughout his marriage, Uchitel potentially exposed herself to several possible infections.

Several of Woods’ extramarital affairs have been exposed following his car crash last week, however no comments have been made as to whether his wife, model Elin Nordegren, will have any STD testing done.

All in all, it is probably a good idea for all of Tiger’s partners to get tested at some point following these allegations. Affairs are obviously something that people would rather keep private, but if you are at higher risk like these women for contracting an STD it is better to be safe than sorry.

*For the complete article, please visit http://stdtestingblog.com/original-articles/

The CDC recently released new data regarding STD infections among teenagers. The result: teens need better sex education. In the past ten years, the annual rate of AIDS diagnoses for 15 to 19 year old boys has nearly doubled. For the report the CDC compiled data from several surveys among people aged 10 to 25, and these are their findings:

Only half of girls and just 35 percent of boys ages 18 and 19 had discussed methods of birth control with a parent, yet more than 80 percent of both boys and girls reported that they had learned to say no to sex.

Statistics indicate that lots of teens aren’t saying no. Thirty percent of 15-17 year old girls said they had engaged in sex, and this number rose to 70.6 percent among 18 and 19 year old girls. Boys shared similar statistics, with 31.6 percent of boys aged 15 to 17 engaging in sex, and 64.6 percent of 18 and 19 year old boys. On a rather disturbing note, nearly ten percent of women ages 18 to 24 reported that their first intercourse experience was involuntary.

In 1997 the number of HIV infections in 15 to 19 year old boys was 1.3 per 100,000 cases. In 2006 that number had increased to 2.5 infections per 100,000 cases. Also on the rise were rates for syphilis in females. There were 1.5 positives per 100,000 cases in 2004 and 2.2 infections per 100,000 cases in 2006.

While many teens are learning about sex, many of the lessons tend to be abstinence-only centered, which explains why lower rates of teens have discussed birth control methods. As rates for HIV and syphilis continue to climb it is important now more than ever that teens are supplied with an expansive sex education so that they know the risks of sexual intercourse and how to prevent them.

*For the complete article, please visit http://stdtestingblog.com/original-articles/

The first national study of four common sexually transmitted diseases among girls and young women has found that one in four are infected with at least one of the diseases, federal health officials reported Tuesday.

Nearly half the African-Americans in the study of teenagers ages 14 to 19 were infected with at least one of the diseases monitored in the study — human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, genital herpes and trichomoniasis, a common parasite.

The 50 percent figure compared with 20 percent of white teenagers, health officials and researchers said at a news conference at a scientific meeting in Chicago.

The two most common sexually transmitted diseases, or S.T.D.’s, among all the participants tested were HPV, at 18 percent, and chlamydia, at 4 percent, according to the analysis, part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Each disease can be serious in its own way. HPV, for example, can cause cancer and genital warts.

Among the infected women, 15 percent had more than one of the diseases.

Women may be unaware they are infected. But the diseases, which are infections caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites, can produce acute symptoms like irritating vaginal discharge, painful pelvic inflammatory disease and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy. The infections can also lead to longterm ailments like infertility and cervical cancer.

The survey tested for specific HPV strains linked to genital warts and cervical cancer.

Officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the findings underscored the need to strengthen screening, vaccination and other prevention measures for the diseases, which are among the highest public health priorities.

About 19 million new sexually transmitted infections occur each year among all age groups in the United States.

“High S.T.D. infection rates among young women, particularly young African-American women, are clear signs that we must continue developing ways to reach those most at risk,” said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr., who directs the centers’ division of S.T.D. prevention.

The president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Cecile Richards, said the new findings “emphasize the need for real comprehensive sex education.”

“The national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure,” Ms. Richards said, “and teenage girls are paying the real price.”

Although earlier annual surveys have tested for a single sexually transmitted disease in a specified population, this is the first time the national study has collected data on all the most common sexual diseases in adolescent women at the same time. It is also the first time the study measured human papillomavirus.

Dr. Douglas said that because the new survey was based on direct testing, it was more reliable than analyses derived from data that doctors and clinics sent to the diseases center through state and local health departments.

“What we found is alarming,” said Dr. Sara Forhan, a researcher at the centers and the lead author of the study.

Dr. Forhan added that the study showed “how fast the S.T.D. prevalence appears.”

“Far too many young women are at risk for the serious health effects of untreated S.T.D.’s, ” she said.

The centers conducts the annual study, which asks a representative sample of the household population a wide range of health questions. The analysis was based on information collected in the 2003-4 survey.

Extrapolating from the findings, Dr. Forhan said 3.2 million teenage women were infected with at least one of the four diseases.

The 838 participants in the study were chosen at random with standard statistical techniques. Of the women asked, 96 percent agreed to submit vaginal swabs for testing.

The findings and specific treatment recommendations were available to the participants calling a password-protected telephone line. Three reminders were sent to participants who did not call.

Health officials recommend treatment for all sex partners of individuals diagnosed with curable sexually transmitted diseases. One promising approach to reach that goal is for doctors who treat infected women to provide or prescribe the same treatment for their partners, Dr. Douglas said. The goal is to encourage men who may not have a physician or who have no symptoms and may be reluctant to seek care to be treated without a doctor’s visit.

He also urged infected women to be retested three months after treatment to detect possible reinfection and to treat it.

Dr. Forhan said she did not know how many participants received their test results.

Federal health officials recommend annual screening tests to detect chlamydia for sexually active women younger than 25. The disease agency also recommends that women ages 11 to 26 be fully vaccinated against HPV.

The Food and Drug Administration has said in a report that latex condoms are “highly effective” at preventing infection by chlamydia, trichomoniasis, H.I.V., gonorrhea and hepatitis B.

The agency noted that condoms seemed less effective against genital herpes and syphilis. Protection against human papillomavirus “is partial at best,” the report said.

For the full article, please refer to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/science/12std.html?_r=3&scp=3&sq=std%20testing&st=cse

Yikes—19 million STD infections occur each year according to the Center for Disease Control’s NEW report this week. The numbers from 2007 are in and the stats are a total bummer. Gonorrhea and chlamydia, the most common STDs, recorded the largest number of known cases to date in 2009, 1.5 million according to the most recent assessment.

However, the government agency thinks that’s a low estimate, and suspect that there are actually twice as many people who are carrying the infections. Unfortunately, the infections often go undiagnosed because they can be asymptomatic.

While gonorrhea and chlamydia frequently come together in one big STD package, they are both cured with antibiotics. However, if someone isn’t a responsible sexy time partner and doesn’t get tested regularly, the diseases can wreak havoc and even do things jeopardize your ability to get pregnant.

Since young women, age 15-34, are in the highest risk categories, it’s essential that we take care of our business!

For the full article http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-cdc-releases-latest-std-statistics/

A new CDC study estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States — or 3.2 million teenage girls — is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis).

The two most common STDs overall were human papillomavirus, or HPV (18 percent), and chlamydia (4 percent). Data were based on an analysis of the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

For the full article, please refer to http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080312084645.htm