Chicago Tribune Examines STI, Pregnancy Prevention Knowledge Among Young People

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 28 Apr 2010 - 4:00 PDT


Some experts say young people's knowledge about sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy prevention are lower than previous generations, which could contribute to rising STI rates in some areas, the Chicago Tribune reports. In the Chicago area and Illinois, STI rates "are high, and in some cases, getting worse," according to the Tribune.

Chlamydia rates in Chicago have risen for the last four years, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. Illinois' gonorrhea rate -- 160.9 cases per 100,000 people -- exceeds the national average of 111.6 per 100,000, according to CDC. Syphilis rates in the state began to rise in 2004 after years of declines and have not returned to their lower levels.

Ken Papineau, director of coordinated school health for Chicago Public Schools, said the city's schools use a comprehensive approach that includes discussion of HIV/AIDS, STIs and pregnancy prevention.

On the national level, a 2009 survey by the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy questioned 1,800 unmarried adults ages 18 through 29, finding that 37% of respondents incorrectly believe that using petroleum jelly to lubricate a latex condom is a sound birth control practice. The survey also found that 44% of respondents who have used birth control pills thought it was necessary to "take a break" from the pill every few years, though experts disagree with that notion.

Heather Corinna, author and executive director of sex advice Web site scarleteen.com, said, "In the 12 years I have been working with young adults and sex, it has seemed that as time has gone on, the level of knowledge about STIs and safer sex has decreased, not increased."

Corinna said the increase in STI rates can be attributed in part to abstinence-only sex education. She added that abstinence-only programs are centered on "messaging to encourage youth to save sex for heterosexual marriage," adding, "Many of the programs don't even mention homosexuality, bisexuality or gendervariant people" (Garvey, Chicago Tribune, 4/25).

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