The University Daily Kansan
Monday, June 24, 2013
Page 15
HEALTH
STD cases increase during summer months
SARAH NOONAN
snoonan@kansan.com
When heat rises, so do sexually transmitted diseases. The 10,000 free-loving hippies who shared their flower-scented crash pads for communal intercourse during the 1967 "Summer of Love" began a sexual revolution that still echoes today. While this psychedelic summer was
one for the books,
nobody anticipated
the repercussions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sexually transmitted disease rates rose 165 percent among young people in the four years following 1967. Now, with summer high in heat and school on the back burner.
students need to be wary of the sexual temptations their frivolous social lives may have to offer.
increased need for STD testing. With nearly 20 million new cases of STDs that occur in the United States each year, half of which occur among this age group, STDs are a widespread issue.
Chief of Staff at Watkins Student Health Services Pavika Saripalli recommends every student get tested at least once a year or after every new partner because some people are unaware they are infected.
"Ninety percent of the time, people don't have symptoms of a sexually transmitted disease."
A report from the New Mexico Department of Health reveals increased sexual activity during summer months among young people (ages 15 to 24), which calls for an
PAVIKA SARIPALLI Watkins Student Health Center chief of staff
"Ninety percent of the time, people don't have symptoms of a sexually transmitted disease," Saripalli said. "Students come for a normal check-up or pap smear and we have to end up breaking the
devastating news that they are infected"
A student at the University of Missouri, who asked to remain anonymous, received an unfortunate
*HIV incidence not calculated by age in this analysis
KATIE KUTSKO/KANSAN