Tag Archives: AIDS

STD Awareness: Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Pregnancy

Posted on by
1

Every month since January 2011, we’ve been sharing installments of our STD Awareness series, and each month, we’ve encouraged you to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) by using dental dams and condoms. But what if you’re trying to get pregnant? In that case, you’re probably not using condoms! However, it is very important that partners know their STD status — being screened and treated for STDs prior to pregnancy is a good idea for your health, and can protect your future baby.

If you and a partner are trying to get pregnant, you might consider being screened for STDs together.

When present during pregnancy, certain STDs can have negative health effects for you or your future baby (including preterm labor, stillbirth, low birth weight, pneumonia, certain infections, blindness, and liver disease), especially if they are not cured or treated in time. Receiving prenatal care can help prevent these problems, so it is important to be screened and treated for STDs prior to or early in your pregnancy.

During pregnancy, the immune system undergoes changes, which are probably necessary to ensure that the body doesn’t reject the fetus — normally, the immune system recognizes non-self cells as potential pathogens and attacks. These immune system changes might make a pregnant person more susceptible to disease. Latent viral infections, like genital warts or herpes, might come out of dormancy. Additionally, anatomical changes lead to a larger exposed area of the cervix, which is potentially more vulnerable to initial infections. Continue reading →

Confronting HIV/AIDS in the Asian and Pacific Islander Community

Posted on by
Reply

Some of Arizona’s first Asian Americans were Chinese immigrants who arrived from California and Mexico in the late 1800s, often finding work in mining camps alongside Irish and Italian immigrants.

Today, Arizona’s Asians and Pacific Islanders, or APIs, represent nations throughout Asia and the Pacific, with Indians and Filipinos constituting the two largest API ethnic groups in Arizona. Although APIs are a small percentage of Arizona’s total population — 2.8 percent — their population is now the fastest-growing in Arizona, increasing by 85,000 in the last decade. In this respect, Arizona mirrors a larger trend; nationally, the Asian and Pacific Islander population grew by 43.3 percent between 2000 and 2010.

More than two-thirds of Asians and Pacific Islanders have never been tested for HIV.

Asians and Pacific Islanders experience the same health problems as the population at large, but like other minority groups, their health needs are best met by understanding how health problems affect them uniquely, and by providing culturally competent health interventions and health care. There’s an increasing need for both as their population grows, especially when it comes to addressing HIV/AIDS in their population. Although APIs have low rates of officially reported HIV/AIDS compared to other racial and ethnic groups, their incidence of unreported HIV/AIDS most likely hides a larger problem. As Dr. C. N. Le of the Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS explains, “The statistics say that the prevalence rate among Asians is relatively small, and much smaller than among the black community or the Latino community … But those are official statistics, and official statistics are notorious for undercounting minorities, and especially for undercounting immigrants.” Continue reading →

Allergic to Latex? You Can Still Have Safer Sex

Posted on by
Reply

Condoms offer fantastic protection against STDs and reduce pregnancy risk. Most are made from latex, to which some people are allergic.

Latex condoms are a well-rounded form of birth control: Not only are they great for preventing pregnancy, but they reduce the risk of passing on or receiving a sexually transmitted disease (STD). When used consistently and correctly, they offer fantastic protection. Although condoms have been around for centuries, their modern construction from latex is a vast improvement over the silk and viscera of yore. A product of the industrial age, they are manufactured by dipping a porcelain mold into natural rubber latex, a material that originates from a tree.

Latex is tops, but other options include polyisoprene and polyurethane. Beware: Lambskin isn’t effective STD protection.

Because of latex’s many advantages, the majority of condoms are manufactured from this material. However, up to 6 percent of the population is allergic to latex. There is a range of symptoms associated with latex allergies. Most people with latex allergies experience only a localized reaction on the vulva or penis (contact dermatitis); systemic reactions (like asthma or anaphylaxis) are rare. Allergy tests can be performed on people who suspect they might be sensitive to latex.

Luckily, even if you have a latex allergy you can still find condoms to facilitate your safer-sex experiences, including condoms made out of polyurethane and polyisoprene. Not all condoms protect against pregnancy or STDs, so read the label carefully. In the United States, if the packaging doesn’t explicitly state that the condoms are made to prevent disease, they haven’t been approved by the FDA for that purpose. Continue reading →

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

Posted on by
1
  • In case you hadn’t heard, Arizona’s new abortion law is horrendous. (RH Reality Check)
  • Arizona has also passed a craptacular contraception bill that would allow employers with “religious objections to birth control” to opt out of the state’s requirement that health plans cover contraception. (ABC15)
  • Since we’re on such a roll discussing how much things suck in Arizona — it should also be noted that we have some surly, rude, wildly unprofessional lawmakers in this state. (NARAL)
  • Surprisingly, Arizona did not make Jezebel’s list of the 10 scariest places to have ladyparts in the United States. (Jezebel)
  • FYI: Childbirth = WAY more dangerous than abortion by pill. (Minn Post)
  • How the War on Women Became Mainstream (TruthOut)
  • Provocative new research might help explain why black women are so much more likely than whites to develop and die from cervical cancer: They seem to have more trouble clearing HPV, the virus that causes the disease. (MSNBC)
  • A teen wellness clinic inside a Virginia high school distributes birth control and emergency contraception — and something crazy happened — pregnancy rates have dropped! (USA Today)
  • Why Are 17-Year-Olds Being Denied the Morning After Pill? (Fox Charlotte)
  • A handy guide to Mitt Romney’s flip-flop on abortion. (Slate)
  • A pill that could prevent the transmission of HIV? Let the testing begin! (Boston Herald)

STDs 101: An Introduction to Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Posted on by
1

It’s April, which for Arizonans means a gradual increase in temperature as we head toward summer. But at Planned Parenthood Arizona it also means that it’s time to focus on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in observance of STD Awareness Month. While we regularly provide information about sexual health with our monthly STD Awareness series, April is the time of year to fix the spotlight on sexually transmissible microbes and the infections they cause. April is also the time of year when Planned Parenthood Arizona offers coupons for discounted STD screening, so if you’ve been putting it off, now’s the time!

Symptoms of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

First, some basic facts. STDs can be transmitted through all sexual activities — vaginal, anal, or oral sex, as well as activities involving skin-to-skin contact. STDs are most commonly caused by viruses or bacteria, though they can be caused by other agents as well, including animals! Each STD is unique, with unique symptoms, but common symptoms include:

  • rashes, open sores, blisters, or warts in the genital area
  • swelling or tenderness
  • pus, bleeding, odor, or abnormal discharge
  • itching in the genital region
  • burning sensation during urination

It’s best not to focus too closely on symptoms, though – most people with STDs actually don’t experience any symptoms whatsoever! As they say in the biz, “The most common symptom of an STD is … no symptom.” For example, most people with herpes either have no symptoms or have mild symptoms that go unnoticed. Ten percent of males and 80 percent of females with gonorrhea don’t experience symptoms, and most people with chlamydia are asymptomatic. And HIV symptoms usually take a decade to show up. If you are, or have been, sexually active, you can’t assume that the absence of symptoms means you’re in the clear. To know for sure if you have an STD, the best thing you can do is to get yourself tested. Continue reading →

Book Club: The Origins of AIDS

Posted on by
Reply

The Origins of AIDS
By Jacques Pepin
Cambridge University Press, 2011

Most sexually transmitted diesases go back thousands of years. Gonorrhea, for example, was first described by a Greek physician in A.D. 150, and pubic lice have been evolving right along with us since before we became Homo sapiens. This might have been one reason why it was such a shock when a strange new virus came to our attention in the early 1980s. We soon discovered that it was transmitted sexually and through infected blood, but where did it come from?

We have intriguing evidence that HIV as we know it has been in existence since at least the 1930s.

HIV has been around since before the 1980s, though it remained unnoticed and unidentified by medical science. The earliest confirmed case of HIV was in 1959, the proof found in a sample of blood from the Belgian Congo, saved in a freezer for decades and later analyzed for the virus. Other early cases of HIV infection that have retrospectively been confirmed include that of a Norwegian sailor, who must have been infected while visiting African ports in the early 1960s. He, his wife, and his child (who was apparently congenitally infected) all died in 1976, and their tissues were tested 12 years later and found positive for HIV.

Jacques Pepin — a professor and microbiologist, not to be confused with the chef of the same name — does some serious detective work to find the most plausible explanation for HIV’s origins. While he doesn’t skimp on the science, the story of AIDS’ origins can’t be told without getting into the history of Europe’s colonization of Africa in the 20th century. This period, followed by the era of post-colonization, found many societies in upheaval. Urbanization, unemployment, and migration facilitated the spread of HIV in Africa during much of the 1900s, and once it left the continent it was able to hitch a ride from host to host, traveling the world. Continue reading →

A Celebration of Life: Arizonans Observe National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Posted on by
Reply

Tuesday, March 20, 2012, is National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NNHAAD). Started in 2007, NNHAAD is focused on promoting HIV education, prevention, and testing among Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, a former professor at the University of Arizona who is now director of Indian Health Service, has called NNHAAD a day to “celebrate our successes and plan how to best continue working in partnership to address HIV and AIDS among Native people.”

On March 16, Arizona State University will observe Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with speakers, information, and free HIV testing.

Although HIV affects every segment of society in the United States, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are disproportionately affected, ranking third, after black and Latina/Latino Americans, in the rate of HIV/AIDS diagnosis. Even as high as it is, the documented rate of diagnosis most likely understates the actual rate of HIV among Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This is due to racial misidentification in collected data and poor data reporting between state and federal agencies and the Indian Health Service (IHS). Further deflating the rate of diagnosis is the concern among people from smaller Native communities about anonymity during testing and confidentiality after diagnosis. Those concerns and the stigma associated with HIV lead to a reluctance to get tested, which delays or precludes diagnosis.

To understand the high rate of HIV, it helps to look at risk factors that uniquely affect Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Dr. Anthony Dekker of the Phoenix Indian Medical Center, interviewed for the newspaper Indian Life, commented that Native American patients “have very high rates of … sexually transmitted diseases … We also know that there is a very high rate of alcohol and [substance abuse] in the American Indian/Alaska Native population. There are many reasons for that, but what happens is that when you take a population that has had high rates of substance abuse and high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, [that population] also has high rates of HIV.” A high rate of substance abuse is associated with a high rate of HIV and other STIs, since impairment can lead to risky sexual behavior, such as poorer negotiation of condom use. Continue reading →

STD Awareness: “Can I Get an STD from Oral Sex?”

Posted on by
Reply

As tools to reduce risk for STD transmission, dental dams are not to be ignored.

Many consider oral sex to be a safer form of sexual activity compared to vaginal or anal intercourse. For this reason, they might put less emphasis on the use of latex barriers, such as dental dams and condoms, during oral sex. Unfortunately, this idea is misguided and can lead to the transmission of preventable infections.

It is generally true that oral sex presents less of a risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) — but this risk is not trivial, especially when people are under the impression that they don’t need to use barrier methods during oral sex. Most sexually transmitted diseases can be passed along by oral sex, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis B, herpes (which can be transmitted back and forth from the mouth, as cold sores, to the genital region, as genital herpes), human papillomavirus (HPV), and HIV. Even pubic lice can be transferred from the genital region to eyelashes and eyebrows! Additionally, intestinal parasites are more likely to be transmitted via oral sex than through vaginal sex. A microscopic amount of fecal matter containing parasites can be infectious, and can be unknowingly ingested when present on genitals.

Seventy percent of adolescents who reported engaging in oral sex had never used a barrier to protect themselves from STDs during oral sex.

Some bacterial STDs, such as gonorrhea and syphilis, can do permanent damage if not treated in time. Furthermore, gonorrhea of the throat is much more difficult to treat than gonorrhea in the genital or rectal areas. And some viral STDs can’t be cured (such as herpes and HIV), while others can cause chronic infections that have been linked to cancer (such as hepatitis, which is associated with liver cancer, and HPV, which is associated with throat cancer as well as cervical cancer and anal cancer). Continue reading →