Circumcision controversy

Circumcision controversy rages on after NYC warns against procedure

By Debra Nussbaum Cohen and Larry Cohler-Esses

NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (JTA) — In the face of a religious court’s failure to conclude its investigation of a mohel who transmitted herpes to three babies, New York City’s health commissioner has issued an unprecedented public warning Tuesday that a controversial circumcision procedure is endangering the lives of Jewish infants. “There exists no reasonable doubt that metzitzah b’peh can and has caused neonatal herpes infection,” Dr. Thomas Frieden wrote earlier this month in “An Open Letter to the Jewish Community” about a procedure routinely practiced by mohels in some sectors of the Orthodox community. “The Health Department recommends that infants being circumcised not undergo metzitzah b’peh.”

Herpes Treatments

Microbicide PEO 2000 prevents HIV and herpes

Study shows microbicide prevents HIV and herpes

The first small-scale human study of the experimental microbicide PRO 2000, developed by Indevus Pharmaceuticals, shows that the compound is highly effective in preventing both HIV and herpes infections, researchers report in the January 1 edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The researchers tested the compound in 20 HIV-negative women, half of whom were given a gel containing a 0.5% concentration of PRO 2000 and the other half a placebo. Vaginal cell samples taken from the women and then exposed to HIV showed that PRO 2000 inhibited HIV infection at least 1,000-fold. The compound also significantly reduced herpes infection risk, the researchers report.

The study was the first to gauge the effectiveness of PRO 2000 after application in humans, reports AIDSmap.com. Lab and animal tests have shown that the compound is highly effective in preventing HIV infections. PRO 2000 works by binding to the surface of HIV and preventing it from being able to latch on to immune system cells and infect them.

Although PRO 2000—and other microbicide products currently in development at other companies—has been tested primarily among heterosexual women, many researchers believe the compounds also may be effective in helping to reduce HIV infections among sexually active gay men.

Additional studies of PRO 2000 are planned.

Reduce Herpes Outbreaks

Sexually transmitted diseases

Rates of sexually transmitted diseases There are more than 20 sexually transmitted diseases. The most common include syphilis, gonorrhea, HIV, chlamydia, herpes and hepatitis B. In North Carolina, the HIV rate among American Indians is about twice that of the white population. Among blacks, the rate is 10 times the rate of the white population. It is the only communicable disease listed to decrease among whites and the general population, yet increase among blacks. In North Carolina, the STD rate among American Indians is four times that of the white population. Among blacks, the rate is 10 times the rate of the white population. HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death among black North Carolinians between the ages of 15 and 44 during the late 1990s. Black females were more than 16 times as likely to die of AIDS as white females. In the late 1990s, the incidence rate of gonorrhea and syphilis was 25 times higher among blacks than whites in North Carolina. Increased education and treatment had reduced that to 10 times greater in 2003. In Cumberland County, the incidence rate for HIV/AIDS and gonorrhea was 10 times as high among blacks as among whites in 2003. The rate was 1.6 times as high for syphilis. The number of cases of gonorrhea reported in Cumberland County have remained fairly constant since 1997: from 1,036 cases to 1,055. The number of chlamydia cases have more than doubled, from 1,138 to 2,657. Two-thirds of those infected with chlamydia in Cumberland County were between the ages of 20 and 29. Sixty-three percent were black, and 28 percent were white. Statistically, the most likely person to have gonorrhea in Cumberland County is a black male in his early 20s. The most likely person to have syphilis is a black male in his mid- to late 30s. STDs on the rise Large population, increased testing might contribute to higher numbers in Boone County * Chlamydia is the most frequently reported infectious disease in the U.S. It is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman’s reproductive organs. * Symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent but can cause irreversible damage, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus and surrounding tissues, or infertility in women. GONORRHEA * Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that can grow and multiply easily in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract and in the urethra of men and women. In women, gonorrhea is a common cause of pelvic inflammatory disease. In men, it can cause epididymitis, a painful condition of the testicles that can lead to infertility if left untreated. Gonorrhea can spread to the blood or joints, a condition that is life-threatening. SYPHILIS * Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. Many of the signs and symptoms of syphilis are indistinguishable from those of other diseases. It is passed from one person to another through direct contact with a syphilis sore. * Many people infected with syphilis do not have any symptoms for years, but they are still at risk for complications. There are several stages of syphilis, including primary, secondary, latent and late. The primary stage of syphilis is usually marked by the appearance of a single sore, but there may be more than one. It appears at the spot where syphilis entered the body and goes away without treatment. The second stage starts with the development of a rash on one or more areas of the body. The rash is sometimes so faint is goes unnoticed or resembles rashes caused by other diseases. The signs and symptoms of secondary syphilis will resolve with or without treatment, but without treatment, the infection will progress to the latent and late stages of disease. The latent stage is where there are no symptoms, but the infection is still present in the body. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WHAT DO I DO IF I THINK I HAVE AN STD? * Contact the Columbia/Boone County Health Department Clinic at 874-7355 and make an appointment. All services and treatments are free. The clinic is located at 1005 W. Worley St. and is open from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. * There is an STD clinic on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 p.m., but the clinic will perform tests for STDs during regular hours as well. Gonorrhea and chlamydia rates in Boone County are higher than rates for Missouri and the nation as a whole. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ 2004 profile of HIV and STDs in Missouri shows that one in 185 Boone County residents reported a case of chlamydia and one in 599 reported a case of gonorrhea. For both diseases, 95.4 percent of Boone County cases were reported in Columbia. “The numbers are higher in Columbia because of the population and because the city/county health department and testing center is here,” said Bill Monroe, the regional HIV consulting and testing coordinator. Monroe said the testing center sees patients from all over the county. Missouri ranked 10th in the nation for gonorrhea and chlamydia rates, according to numbers released in November by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rates were taken from cases reported in 2004. Boone County’s chlamydia rate has been steadily increasing since 2000 along with the state and national rate. The national rise is attributed to the expansion of testing efforts and the fact that tests for chlamydia have become better at detecting the disease, said Jennifer Ruth of the CDC. Although the national gonorrhea rate has decreased since 2000, Boone County’s rate has increased. “The (national) decline could be due to shifts in testing patterns, less gonorrhea testing, or a real decrease in the number of new cases,” Ruth said. The CDC ranked Missouri 25th in syphilis cases last year. The state’s rate for the disease has fluctuated since 2000. There were fewer than five cases of syphilis reported in Boone County in 2004, according to the state health department. The Columbia/Boone County Health Department’s data for January through October 2005 shows there have been 205 cases of gonorrhea, 622 of chlamydia and fewer than five of syphilis reported in the county. The statistics provided from various sources may not provide figures for all STDs because some are not considered reportable diseases, said Lynn Fair, a women’s nurse practitioner at the health department clinic. For example, herpes and genital warts are no longer considered reportable diseases, which means testing centers do not report cases to the CDC or health departments. “Reportable diseases, in general, cause more damage and there is more of a risk of passing it to the fetus,” Fair said. Fair, who has been at the health department for 14 years, said the clinic sees about 40 people during its STD clinic, which is held Tuesday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m. Fair stressed that the STD clinic is for high-risk cases only. A high-risk case involves someone who has multiple sex partners and does not use protection or has experienced symptoms. The clinic’s services are free, and patients can make an appointment for STD testing at any time. Advocating condom usage to teens can be dangerous Question: If you were a parent and knew your son or daughter was thinking about engaging in sexual intercourse, wouldn't you talk to them about condom usage? If our kids are going to have sex anyway, shouldn't we make sure they are properly protected? Dr. Dobson: I would not, because that approach has unintended consequences. By recommending condom usage to teenagers we inevitably convey five dangerous ideas: (1) that "safe sex" is achievable; (2) that everybody is doing it; (3) that responsible adults expect them to do it; (4) that it's a good thing; and (5) that their peers know they know these things, breeding promiscuity. Those are very destructive messages to give our kids. Furthermore, Planned Parenthood's own data show the No. 1 reason teenagers engage in intercourse is peer pressure! Therefore, anything we do to imply that "everybody is doing it" results in more -- not fewer -- teens who give the game a try. What I'm saying is our condom distribution programs do not reduce the number of kids exposed to the disease -- they radically increase it! And consider this: Research indicates where disease prevention is concerned, the failure rate of condoms is incredibly high, perhaps 50 percent or greater. Condoms also fail to protect against some STDs that are transmitted from areas not covered (the base of the male genitalia, for example). After 25 years of teaching safe-sex ideology, and more than 2 billion federal dollars invested in selling this notion, we have a medical disaster on our hands. More than 500,000 cases of herpes occur annually, and the number of reported cases of chlamydia has risen 281 percent since 1987. Forty-six percent of chlamydia cases occur in teenage girls ages 15 to 19. In addition, there are now more than 24 million cases of HPV (human papilloma virus) in the United States, with a higher prevalence among teens. Having acknowledged these problems, why in the world would I recommend this so-called "solution" to my son or daughter? Look at it this way. Suppose my kids were skydivers whose parachutes had been demonstrated to fail 50 percent of the time. Would I suggest they simply buckle the chutes tighter? Certainly not. I would say, "Please don't jump. Your life is at stake!" How could I, as a loving father, do less? I should add that, despite the popular myth to the contrary, teens can understand, accept and implement the abstinence message. It's not true young people are sexual robots, hopelessly incapable of controlling their own behavior. As a matter of fact, almost 50 percent of all high school students are virgins today, even though hardly anybody has told them it is a good thing. These kids desperately need to be affirmed in their decision and held up as positive examples for others. None of this will be accomplished by pushing condoms. Question: I read in the paper that a 14-year-old boy shot a woman in the face for no reason at all. Things like that are happening all around us. When I was a kid I wouldn't even have sassed a teacher, much less assaulted one. Today the level of violence among the young is like nothing I've ever seen! Please comment on this. Dr. Dobson: You are right, an epidemic of violence is occurring among the young that is expected to actually worsen in the next few years. During a meeting of Prison Fellowship workers in our city, a group of hardened former criminals said the kids growing up today scare them because they have no consciences. They can kill without a hint of remorse. It is true. In Seattle a few years ago, two boys, 12 and 13, beat to death a person coming out of a convenience store. There was no motive except a desire to brutalize someone - anyone - with a baseball bat. In Virginia, a 14-year-old shot the driver of a nearby car six times in the face. Why? "Because he looked at me," the boy said. In Los Angeles, a family made a wrong turn down a street and was subjected to a hail of gunfire that killed their little girl. Gang members poured bullets into the car for the sheer fun of it. And finally, who can forget the 5-year-old Chicago boy who was pushed from an upper-story window and fell to his death. His killers were 10 and 11 years old. This kind of random violence is more common among children and adolescents today than ever before in our history. Electronic Card: You've Got An STD True love thrives on the Internet, many lonely hearts have met their matches in chat rooms. "We met in a chat room" is as common a phrase as "we met in a bar." At my place of employment I know of three married couples that met online, there is no longer a stigma to admitting you met your partner in the world of cyber space. But the Net is not just for pure hearts in search of romance, it's also for horn dogs in search of a one-night stand. The Internet is becoming an increasingly common place to arrange a sexual liaison, and often the only thing partners know about each other is an e-mail address. If after a night of wild passion a Casanova discovers that he has come down with an STD, often the only way he can deliver this bad news to his partner is via an e-mail. The Los Angeles County Health Department has set up a Web site, www.inSpotLA.org/, which allows Don Juans to inform their lovers that they have been exposed to an STD. Featured on the site is a selection of electronic greeting cards with many cute ways of saying: You may have been exposed to a venereal disease. I'd rather a lady simply blurt out that she may have exposed me to a disease, than receive a cheery electronic card saying: Roses are red, Violets are blue, You may have syphilis and herpes too. But hey, whatever works. There are electronic greeting cards for every occasion, why not one to inform your one-night stand that he/she should be tested for an STD? Folks tend to be very blunt when expressing themselves via e-mail, critics have responded to my essays by sending me e-mails calling me everything but a child of God. Some passionate Romeos turn into shrinking violets when it comes to disclosing embarrassing information in person, e-mail is a good means of relaying unpleasant news. If you receive an electronic card announcing that you may have an STD, after you get over the embarrassment -- get tested immediately.

Gel can help stop HIV, herpes spread

Gel can help stop HIV, herpes spread CHICAGO — In the first study to show the activity of a microbicide after application in humans, researchers found that microbicide gel can prevent HIV and herpes infection of human cells, AIDSMap.com reported. A gel that contains the microbicide PRO 2000 can stop infections after being inserted into the vagina, according to a study printed in the Jan. 1 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Microbicides are being researched as a way for women to gain more control over their risk of contracting HIV or other infections, and they also may reduce HIV transmission during sex between men, researchers said. Developed by Indevus Pharmaceuticals, PRO 2000 is a microbicide that binds to the surface of HIV and stops it from entering human cells. Human trials have not yet been widely conducted to test its effectiveness.

Abstinence - The new 4 letter word

Abstinence program gets $2.4M Federal grant adds staff, programs By Peggy Kreimer Post staff reporter A program to teach teens how and why to refrain from sexual activity until marriage just got a $2.4 million federal grant to continue the work in Northern Kentucky schools for the next three years. The grant will allow the New Hope Center Abstinence Program, which serves 42 schools in Boone, Campbell, Grant, Kenton and Pendleton counties, to expand into Gallatin County and to add staff and new programs for young and older teens, said grant director Karen Andrea. The program started three years ago with a $1.2 million federal grant and has reached nearly 30,000 teens through school programs, health fairs and programs for community groups, Andrea said. Of the 42 schools, 38 are public junior and senior high schools and four are parochial schools. "This is not a religious or political program, the curriculum is medically based," said Andrea. "We're trying to equip kids to make good decisions." The education program is a project of the New Hope pregnancy center, which provides pro-life counseling and support for women dealing with unplanned pregnancies. The center will not refer for abortions, but will offer help for people who want to deal with adoption or keeping the baby. The center offers free pregnancy tests, ultrasound, pre-natal classes, parenting classes, and referrals and help with housing and other needs. The pregnancy center is financially separate from the school abstinence program, and none of the grant money goes to the center, Andrea said. The program curriculum meets the Kentucky core curriculum requirements. The funding doubles the budget and will allow the program to expand to new schools and to add at least three new staff positions, including two educators, one to be Spanish-speaking, and a youth programmer. The program has 10 paid educators now. "We want to add a youth development component where kids would plan their own reinforcement activities for any kind of risky behavior - drugs, drinking, smoking, sexual behavior," Andrea said. Actiivities could include pre-prom programs, leadership retreats and training. The school programs are eight-day education sessions that include films, workbook activities and student participation exercises. Students learn about sexually transmitted diseases, Andrea said. "People talk about safe sex, but they're just talking about protection from pregnancy." She said one in four teens has a sexually transmitted disease. One of the most common is HPV, which is a leading cause of cervical cancer in women. Bacterial diseases can be cured, but viral diseases can be treated only, she said. "Herpes is the most prevalent because there is no cure. You keep passing it on."

Abstinence

Abstinence from sexual activity - it's the smart choice. That's the message being brought to young people by Heritage of Rhode Island, a non-profit founded by West Kingston resident Carol Knight in 2002. A federal grant for $1.2-million dollars in 2004 gave a huge boost to the effort, and Heritage is now spreading its message statewide. The organization is an outgrowth of Knight's work at Care Net RI, a crisis pregnancy center in Cranston. There, she says, she discovered that before becoming pregnant, most girls saw sex as a game, never contemplating the possibility that they might become pregnant or be infected by a sexually transmitted disease. Heritage Executive Director Christopher Plante notes that 10,000 people are infected with sexually transmitted diseases every day in the United States. That's 3.75 million people a year afflicted with STDs that include genital herpes, human papilloma virus, syphilis, AIDS, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. Twenty percent of Americans over the age of 11 are infected with genital herpes. Viral STDs such as herpes and papilloma viruses can't be cured, only treated. Since they are often asymptomatic, they are passed on unknowingly. For girls, infertility can be the permanent result. STDs are costly to treat; in 2003, $24-million was spent in Rhode Island on treatment, according to Plante. But most kids think they're immortal and they don't contemplate consequences. Knight learned as she worked at the crisis pregnancy center that no one had ever suggested to the teens that abstinence could be a viable alternative.Heritage is trying to change that. Knight recognizes that scare techniques don't work, and Heritage focuses on persuading teens that abstinence is a healthy choice. Their workshops focus on such issues as self-worth and making responsible choices, on helping young people develop a vision of what they want for their lives in the future.Heritage also has a Parents Make the Difference program that they present in schools, churches and various other locales around the state. Can those raging teenage hormones be harnessed? Heritage of Rhode Island thinks so. They are frank in saying that what they envision is another sexual revolution - with abstinence as the goal. It's a worthy one - and in today's "anything goes" permissive society, positively countercultural. For more details on programs and workshops, go to www.HeritageRI.org or call 921-2993 for details.

Abstinence: Is it the new sexual revolution

Carol Knight of West Kingston founded Heritage as a result of her work at Care Net RI, a crisis pregnancy center in Cranston. "She worked in the crisis end and wanted to work on the prevention end," explained Christopher Plante, Executive Director. " She went out looking for curricula and funding." Knight started out in 1989 working as a volunteer at Care Net in Wakefield. She joined the staff and the new office in Cranson four and a half years ago. In her work as a counselor she saw common themes. " The girls didn't see that they had any choices," Knight said regarding their sexual activity. "They saw sex as a game, never thinking, 'I could get pregnant or get a sexually transmitted disease.'" She also saw many young couples "freaking out" due to an unplanned pregnancy. That led Knight on a bigger quest - to convince teens they did have a choice - to abstain. "People never talked to them about abstinence. Abstinence was foreign to the kids." She thought, "There's got to be a way to change the culture." That change started with a committee of others devoted to the cause and a search for an existing program. At the time she thought, "I am sure someone's out there and doing it well. I'm not going to try to reinvent the wheel." Knight found Heritage of South Carolina, with the curriculum she wanted and also looking to expand. " They had already been doing it and were successful." Kids who had gone through the school programs were waiting longer to have sex and "not just jumping in." A federal grant for $1.2-million dollars seeded Heritage of Rhode Island, the first and only organization working on the abstinence issue in the state. Educating teenagers in a positive way about healthy choices, especially sexual abstinence, has become the main message and focus of Heritage. Of the positive message, Knight said, "That is what I love about the curriculum. Scaring them doesn't work... The scare thing doesn't work." Another key part of Heritage's message is about protecting public health.Plante says there are 10,000 people infected with sexually transmitted diseases every day in the United States.

• That's 3.75 million people a year.

"It's a hidden epidemic." The diseases include genital herpes, human papilloma virus, syphilis, AIDS, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. For viral diseases, such as herpes and papilloma viruses, "you can only treat the symptoms," said Plante. Twenty percent of Americans over the age of 11 are infected with genital herpes. Chlamydia is asymptomatic and "kids don't know they have it and pass it on. Three to four cases in a female can result in infertility." Sexually transmitted diseases are also costly. In 2003, $24-million was spent in Rhode Island on treatment, said Plante. "

• The healthiest choice any teenager can make is abstinence," said Plante.

He, like Knight, doesn't think teaching fear is useful. "Fear doesn't work as a deterrent, particularly for teens. They think they are immortal. We are not trying to scare them but give them a positive message to abstain." Heritage focuses on teens' self worth and making responsible choices that give them the brightest future. In their school programs and after school programs, they ask students "What do you want to do with your life? And where do you want to be in ten years?" Heritage also has programs for parents called Parents Make The Difference that are held in schools, churches, and various locales around the state. In response to last year's sexual incident in the back of a bus on a Narragansett school trip, Heritage offered a Parents Make A Difference Workshop at the Holiday Inn. "Parents are the number one influence on kids," said Plante. Knight said that kids "want to be able to bring up questions and concerns with their parents. Parents have given up on issues but research shows that kids want to know what parents think." Besides encouraging parents to talk to their teens, Heritage works to motivate parents in other ways, like pushing to get the Heritage curricula into the schools. "I know there are parents interested in getting this in the schools down here [South County]. A lot of administrators know it's a problem but they don't want to stick their neck out." "We are a little bit surprised we've seen such resistance from the people that make decisions. They are hesitant to jump on board" even when their school staff may be telling them it's a great thing, explained Knight. Even with teenagers' raging hormones, "it's not out of the realm of possibility to control those urges through tools, encouragement, and support," said Plante. He wants abstaining teens to feel they are strong and have the ability to choose, rather than feel that something is wrong with them. "We want to start a new sexual revolution called abstinence," said Plante. Heritage has found that a large percentage of eighth and ninth grade students haven't had sexual intercourse and if they have, they don't want to or they want to stop. What started out as an ad hoc committee that Carol Knight pulled together is now a bustling office with an executive director, an office manager, and four educators. More herpes information

Study finds 15-year-olds with STDs like Herpes Simplex

DOCTORS and education groups are calling for schools to screen students for sexually transmitted diseases after a study found teenagers as young as 15 had contracted STDs. The study of 795 students over the age of 15 found almost 30 per cent had had unwanted sex as a result of being affected by alcohol or drugs and fewer than half regularly used condoms. More than 10 per cent tested positive for the human papilloma virus, which can cause genital warts or cervical cancer. Almost 4 per cent said they had previously been diagnosed with an STD like herpes. About 2 per cent tested positive for herpes simplex 2, which causes genital herpes, and 1 per cent had chlamydia. Frank Bowden, professor of medicine at the Australian National University and co-ordinator of the trial, said teenagers needed more information about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. "They know heaps about HIV, they are starting to know more about chlamydia, but they are remarkably ignorant of contraception," he said. The team from the ANU and Canberra Hospital's sexual health centre set up temporary clinics at two high schools and conducted voluntary screening for several STDs. "We found that when teenagers first have sex with a new partner they usually use a condom, but as it turns into a relationship, they stop using condoms," Professor Bowden said. "And that's a concern because the message that 'when it's love, sex is safe' is a very dangerous one." The study also revealed that 67 per cent of teenagers had sexual intercourse and 12per cent had been with three or more partners in the previous six months. Two per cent had same-sex partners and only 47per cent reported that they always used condoms. Terry Aulich, executive officer of the Council of State School Organisations, said sex education was usually taught in the context of relationships. "We support, at the appropriate time, young people having full knowledge about sexual health and about relationships. The two should be taught together," he said. "But we have to question if we've done enough if the findings of the study are correct and there is a large number of teenagers who are not practising safe sex and have inaccurate and quite frankly ignorant views about contraception and sexual health." Seventeen-year-old Josh Alfrey, from Brisbane, said his school held four weeks of sex education in Year 10, which included information about sexually transmitted diseases. "It makes you afraid and it makes you take precautions like using condoms," he said. "There should be more screening of sexually transmitted diseases." Josh said it was not surprising that many teenagers were drunk when they engaged in sexual activity. "Alcohol eases the inhibitions," he said. Shona McKenzie, also 17, said most of her friends were sexually active. "But there isn't a lot of sex education," she said. "Year 8 was the only time we discussed sex. "I think it's a good idea that there should be screening for STDs."

Lets talk about sex

Let's talk about sex As government experts recommend that all schoolchildren should receive sex education from the age of five, three people with a personal interest give their opinions. The teenager Vicky Glynn stopped going to college as a 17-year-old student in order to look after her newborn daughter Maisie. She is now a peer educator with the Brook Advisory Centre in Oldham Neither me nor my boyfriend Lee got any proper sex education at school in Oldham. We learnt about how the parts of the body worked, but weren't taught about the sex aspects, like pregnancy. I learnt more about sex from my mum, friends and older sisters. I got pregnant when I was still at school, as did other girls in my year. That could have been avoided if we'd had decent sex education. I was fairly ignorant about the risks sex involves - many of the girls at school were the same. I was having sex and not thinking about contraception or the consequences. I knew I could get pregnant but did nothing to stop it. I thought it wouldn't happen to me. I had Maisie two years ago, just after I left school. I was 17. But I didn't last long at college because it's tough being responsible for someone else, like getting them fed and dressed in the morning, as well as yourself. I came to the local Brook Advisory Centre as a young parent, but soon began advising young people about how not to get pregnant. I'm now a peer educator. I go into secondary schools and colleges and talk to kids aged 13 and upwards about contraception, sexually transmitted infections, the dangers of sex and how they would cope if they had a child. We talk about the emotional impact of sex, like how they might have sex at 13 or 14 but regret it, and about why the age of consent is 16. My advice is always for young people to wait until they are ready, and protect themselves. In my view, this is exactly the sort of stuff that schools should be doing themselves. The reality is quite a few young people experiment with sex before they get to 16. I knew people who were having sex at 12 or 13. The trouble is 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds hear about sexual things, but don't know the facts. They see it as a bit of fun but don't know about the risks. I remind girls having a baby young means you have little money, hardly any time for yourself and don't get as much sleep as you'd like. At the moment most sex education is optional in schools. I think every pupil should have good-quality teaching about sex. Making people aware of all these things won't encourage them to have sex; knowing about the risks will do the opposite. It might prevent unwanted pregnancies, or STIs, or emotional distress.Young people need proper sex education to help them with their health and wellbeing. It puts them in control of their lives. The campaigner Norman Wells, is the director of the Family Education Trust, a research charity in London that is concerned with family and young people's issues . Successive governments, including the last Conservative one and the current Labour one, have adopted the same approach: more sex education, earlier sex education, and easier and confidential access to contraception for young people. But this approach hasn't achieved the Government's objectives. The rate of teenage conception has remained static for 30 years, and we are in the grip of a sexual health crisis, with spiralling rates of sexually transmitted infections. STIs are particularly located among young people from their mid-teens to about the age of 24, with alarming rates of infections like chlamydia. One gets the impression that the average school is adopting the contraceptive-based approach, and almost taking the view that it's inevitable that young people will have sex. Our view is that to have that fatalistic approach is counter-productive and likely to lead to some young people becoming sexually active. Working on the basis that someone might do something can become a self-fulfiling prophesy. If you have teachers in schools giving out the message that sex is almost a normal part of growing up, and advising that you should take this or that form of contraception, then young people might see that as a licence to become sexually active. A young man could then pressurise a girl to have sex by saying 'the teacher said it was OK if we used a condom', which might make it difficult for the girl. You can't lay all the blame at the door of sex education. There are other factors, such as the media's influence, peer pressure and parental supervision, or the lack of it. But some young people can access contraception from the school nurse without their parents knowing, much less approving. The existing approach to sex education is increasing the number of young people who are having sex. Young people are being told that if they use condoms, that's the mark of sexual responsibility. They aren't warned that any sexual relationship outside a marriage will always carry the risk of an STI, and that condoms don't always stop infections like herpes and genital warts. We need to be more honest with young people and tell them sex belongs within marriage. We need to restore sex to its proper place, and not cheapen it and treat it in a casual way. Sex education in this country should pay much greater respect to marriage and sexual activity's proper place within marriage. That's the only way to stop a teenager getting an STI or a young girl getting pregnant.' The parent Julie Brown, 36, is a keen supporter of sex education being made compulsory at all schools When I was at Aveley comprehensive in Essex the only sex education I got was very limited, very clinical and quite frightening. I got more information about periods from my sanitary towel packet than teachers at school. I remember we had a 'special assembly' on sex education one day, when a nurse came in to talk to us, with the boys in one hall, and girls in another. In 2003 I was working as a volunteer parent mentor when a few parents who were worried about their kids experimenting with sex asked me how they could talk to them about contraceptives, STIs and 'when the time is right'. I realised that I didn't know, so I went on an eight-week 'Speakeasy' course run by the Family Planning Association designed to help parents tackle those issues. That made me far more knowledgeable, and much more confident about talking to my four children about sex and sexual health. One day Ryan, my youngest, said to me 'you're bisexual, you are' when I wouldn't let him have something. He was 13 at the time. When I asked him if he knew what a bisexual was, he admitted he didn't. So we got the dictionary out, looked up words like 'bisexual', 'lesbian' and 'homosexual', and discussed what they all meant. That was educational! My four children all go to, or have been to, Thomas Tallis secondary school in Kidbrooke, south London. Luckily the sex education there is pretty good because pupils get lessons in what's called Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), which includes elements called Sex and Relationships Education (SRE). So they all know what things like chlamydia and gonorrhoea are. All four are now pretty clued-up about sex, and I'm glad about that. In the real world some young people will experiment with sex, even if you don't want them to. Therefore all we can do is advise and guide them. That's what SRE does, yet only a minority of schools offer it. I think that's appalling because the kids need to be educated in SRE. They need to be told, for example, that sex hormones kick in at puberty and can be really nasty and quite powerful things that can affect your moods and the way you feel physically and leave you feeling very emotional, and they need to be advised how to cope with that. If more pupils got SRE, fewer 12- and 13-year-old girls would get pregnant, and children would be better able to handle the peer pressure to have sex just because their friends say they are. In my view SRE should be compulsory for all pupils, and be spread across their school life. It should start when they are five, although obviously the teaching needs to be very sensitive to the age and maturity of the kids concerned. I understand why some parents might find the idea of their kids getting SRE at school scary, for example for religious reasons, or because the children may then ask awkward questions at home that the parents can't answer or don't feel comfortable talking about. I'd allow parents to retain the right to choose whether or not their kid goes to SRE, but encourage them to see that it's to their advantage as well as the young person's. Learning what I and my kids have learnt about sex has definitely made us much more open with each other. Sex education: What pupils learn Now 5-7-year-olds learn that animals including humans, move, feed, grow, use their senses and reproduce; to recognise and compare external parts of the human body; that humans and animals can produce offspring and these grow into adults; to recognise similarities and differences between people and to treat others with sensitivity. 7-11-year-olds learn about the life processes common to humans and other animals - nutrition, growth and reproduction - and about the main stages of the human life cycle. 11-14-year-olds learn that fertilisation in humans is the fusion of a male and female cell; about the physical and emotional changes that take place during adolescence; about the human reproductive system, including the menstrual cycle and fertilisation; how the foetus develops in the uterus; how the growth and reproduction of bacteria and the replication of viruses can affect health, including HIV and sexually transmitted infections. 14-16-year-olds learn about the effects of sex hormones and some of their medical uses, including the control and promotion of fertility; about the defence mechanisms of the body and how sex is determined in humans. In the future Under the new plans, children from primary school age would be given more 'rounded' lessons on sex and relationships and a broader education on drugs, alcohol and handling money. For older children it would include more in-depth information about the methods of contraception, protection against sexually transmitted infections, the emotional side of sex and relationships and negotiating skills to help guide children through them.

Herpes Support Group Meeting Monday

Herpes Support Group, north central Indiana help group, 7 p.m. at Planned Parenthood, 201 S. Chapin St., South Bend. For information call Nancy or Kim at 289-7062.

Students, Sex STD's and STI's

Written by Lyba Spring - Contributor Wednesday, 30 November 2005 By the time students arrive at university, the majority are having sex. Nevertheless, several students approached me at the end of my recent talk to 300 students to say that they were celibate. The women were interested in finding out if they needed to have an internal (pelvic) exam and a pap smear. What you need to know depends on what you are doing. There has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of chlamydia for people between the ages of 15 and 24, with the greatest increase for 20 to 24 year olds. There is also an increase in the percentage of heterosexual transmissions of HIV. When heterosexual couples start having intercourse, most do use condoms - at first. When the female goes on the pill and the couple feels they can trust each other, they stop using condoms. A common scenario is: One day, she goes for her check-up and finds out that she has chlamydia. She thinks her boyfriend has cheated on her. It's possible, but what's more likely is that he was already infected. Up to 50 per cent of men with chlamydia have no symptoms. Up to 80 per cent of women have no symptoms. Luckily, taking antibiotics can cure both. Suppose, however, she was having unprotected sex with a man who had HIV. He wouldn't know unless he had been tested. If she had untreated chlamydia, the HIV virus would attack the white blood cells at the site of her infection. The HIV virus would use these antibodies to gain entry to her bloodstream. A lot of couples who feel stable don't want to continue using condoms. They can both get tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV after having protected sex for three months, the "window period" for HIV infection. If neither has any of the infections they tested for, then they can decide if they want to stop using condoms to protect against infection. Of course, there is still the problem of herpes and warts. Most new cases of herpes on the genitals is caused by oral sex with a person, who has a history of cold sores on the mouth (HSV-1). It's not the end of the world, because HSV-1 on the genitals tends to break out once or twice a year. And it is difficult to pass genitally. However, genital herpes, caused by HSV-2, is most commonly spread when a person has no symptoms. Condoms really help with this asymptomatic shedding. There is treatment for herpes, which can also reduce the amount of the virus you shed.It is difficult to spread HSV-2 to the mouth with oral sex. A word of caution when dealing with genital warts: A virus called HPV causes these benign warts. After treatment, often a person's immune system clears the virus within a year. High-risk HPV types can cause changes on the cervix, which can lead to cervical cancer. There are no signs of it on a man's penis. This means that for a woman having sex with a man, it is crucial that she have her pap smear once a year. At the same time, she needs to ask her doctor to do swabs to check for things like sexually transmitted infections (STI). So, to those young women who wanted to know if they need to have a pap smear? I told them to negotiate with their family doctor. Cervical cancer is grows slowly. They are at very low risk. Nevertheless, even women who have sex with women need to have their annual pap smear. - Lyba Spring is a Sexual Health Educator for Toronto Public Health -For more information go to: www.toronto.ca/health