I’m sure everyone remembers everything ever said in his or her first sex-ed class right? Wrong.
I believe I speak for all of us when I say that at 14 and 15 years old, retaining information on every side effect of birth control pills and symptoms of all the various diseases was not at the top of our priority list. However, as young women in college, being up-to-date on current news that contributes to our sexual well being is essential.
Now, does anyone remember their high school Biology class? Honestly, that is a bit blurry too. However, I do remember studying about the growth behavior of bacteria and how they evolve into a more advanced form of themselves, which is why antibiotics are always developing themselves. A recent study from the Center for Disease Control and reports from Japan, Spain, and France has found that a stronger form of gonorrhea is now becoming resistant to the current antibiotics used to treat it. Although the STD has not yet been reported to be resistant in the states, doctors and researchers monitoring the disease say that it’s only a matter of time before it happens. Gonorrhea can damage a woman’s internal organs and can eventually lead to sterility, so the fact that the disease is becoming incurable in some places means we need to be even careful by really staying on top of preventative methods.
A common misconception about the disease is that it can only be transmitted through vaginal sex or only through oral sex. Both of these give equal opportunity to catching it. In fact, many people around campus seem to think less about using a condom during oral sex which makes this type of intercourse almost more dangerous, thus making people more likely to transmit and receive the disease. It really is a matter of time before gonorrhea becomes untreatable here in the U.S. so making sure to keep an eye on the news as well as thinking before you engage in any sort of sexual activity with someone is extremely important. Of course, you can expect to hear from me about any news on the subject at all, if turning on Fox News just isn’t your cup of tea.