Awareness month sheds light on STD testing, prevention

Published April 16, 2010
By Senior Airman Kali L. Gradishar
52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- The old cliché that what you see is what you get is not always the case. With sexual relationships, what you can't see can actually harm your body, which is the basis for Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month in April. Throughout the month, emphasis is placed on ensuring people have the facts to protect themselves and their partners, as well as promoting sexual health.

The World Health Organization defines sexual health as "a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being related to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity... For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled."

There are a number of resources with information on sexual health and sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, to include Web sites for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the WHO and American Social Health Association. Facts, statistics and recommendations are abundant on these pages, though information is available locally as well.

"The 52nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron Public Health Flight here on base has a lot of information available to Sabers and their families," stated Senior Airman Ashley Martin, 52nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron Communicable and Vector-Borne Diseases Element technician.

According to information compiled by the public health flight, the most common sexually transmitted infections are chlamydia and gonorrhea. In 2009, 89 percent of the 127 reported cases of sexually transmitted infections here were cases of Chlamydia. There were no reported cases of human immunodeficiency virus on base.

Information provided by public health includes statistics for the base, as well as the Eifel region, for a better understanding of how sexually transmitted infections affect Saber communities.

"Chlamydia and gonorrhea are not a required reportable event in Germany, so exact numbers for the local area are unattainable," Airman Martin stated. But, "syphilis and HIV, although much less common, are still of great concern to our community."

According to 2009 public health flight statistics, 79 of the 2,708 reported cases of syphilis and 108 of the 2,858 reported cases of gonorrhea in Germany were in the Rheinland-Pfalz area.

Though no particular person is more susceptible to being infected with an STI, the lifestyles of certain age groups contribute to increased rates of infection.

"STDs/STIs affect people of all ages, backgrounds and from all walks of life - in the U.S. alone there are approximately 19 million new cases each year, about half of which occur among youth ages 15-24 years," states the CDC Web site. On base, the age range is similar.

"The majority of the people who come up positive for having an STI on base are males between the ages of 18 and 30. This is not saying that these are the only people who come up positive nor is this saying that these are the only people at risk for infection," Airman Martin stated.

One of the most important ways to mitigate risk of infection is to be knowledgeable about ways to protect oneself.

"To reduce the impact of STDs, it is important to increase knowledge about sexually transmitted infections and make STD testing a part of routine medical care. Because many STDs have no symptoms, those at risk need to get tested and find out if they are infected," the CDC Web site advises. One of the programs promoting STD and STI testing is the GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign, aiming "to inform young people about STDs, encourage and normalize testing for STDs, and connect young people to testing centers."

While it's important to protect oneself from STDs and STIs, it's also necessary to protect sexual partners from any possible infection.

The WHO advocates the proper use of male condoms as "one of the most effective methods of protection against STIs" to combat the "more than 30 different bacteria, viruses and parasites (that are) mostly spread by sexual contact."

Additionally, the ASHA Web site relays that "in the United States, there are more than 50 million people estimated to have genital herpes, 20 million people with HPV, and over 1 million people estimated to have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, (so) for the millions of people who have previously acquired a viral sexually transmitted infection, effective measures must be taken to protect any future partners from infection."

For more information, Sabers can start close to home by contacting the Saber public health flight.

"The public health technicians are highly trained and are more than capable of providing education on the different types of STI's, transmission and prevention methods, complications of STI's, and more," Airman Martin stated.

The public health flight is located on the second floor of Bldg. 175. Sabers can also go to their Primary Care Managers to get more information. To contact the communicable and vector-borne diseases element directly, call DSN 452-8427 or 452-8428.