What Are Common STIs Among Young People? What are the Treatment Strategies for the STIs?

Sexually transmitted infections or venereal diseases result from sexual contact between an infected person and a healthy individual. The most common way of transmission is through vaginal intercourse, although oral and anal sex also contributes. Transmission can also be through unsterilized needles, vertical transmission, blood transfusion, and breastfeeding. However, they give a negligible percentage because of increased blood screening and adherence to the current infection prevention procedure manual (Steiner et al., 2018).

The most commonly cultured sexually transmitted infections include Chlamydia, chancroid, genital herpes, genital warts, human immunodeficiency virus, syphilis, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, and human papillomavirus. These diseases are commonly passed on during unprotected sex.

The World Health Organization 2016 estimates that more than 1 million people acquire sexually transmitted diseases every day worldwide. According to the study, chlamydial and trichomonas infections contributed to the highest percentage, with over 300 million people getting infected annually. Human papillomavirus alone was reported in over 290 million women, making it the most common sexually transmitted infection (Krieger et al., 2016). The statistics show that many individuals are being infected annually, putting pressure on limited health resources. As a result, the health of a given nation is compromised. This burdens the government to ensure a healthy state of the nation.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases among Youths concerning Healthy People 2020.

Through the Healthy People 2020 initiative, the government has designed preventive and promotive health measures to reduce the effect of common preventable diseases such as STIs. It is approximated that the government is using over $ 16 billion to control and manage sexually transmitted infections and their complications, according to Steiner et al. (2018). This is a massive burden on the government; therefore, adopting promotive and preventive measures to control STIs is essential to STI management.

The main objective of Healthy People 2020 is to have a healthy society where people live longer. It is achieved by enhancing quality and equitable health services to society. It is vital to promote healthy sexual behaviors, especially among the youth, to curb the transmission of STIs. The community should be emancipated from STIs and their management in addition to increasing access to quality sexual health services. The sensitization will eliminate complications such as reproductive health problems, fetal and perinatal health problems, and cancers that the STIs bring.

STIs and the practice setting

Legal and justice issues in sexually transmitted infections, just like in any other medical-legal issue, should be upheld to the latter and according to the Hippocratic Oath. Patient privacy and confidentiality should always be maintained. It is vital to ensure that the patient understands all the information shared among the health care providers and the information that can be shared with any other person. The Data Protection Act specifies the kind of information to be shared. The Act states that the information can only be shared for justifiable reasons without exposing the patient to unnecessary identification processes (Gottlieb et al., 2014).

The respective health providers must obey the patient’s demand against sharing his/ her information. The healthcare providers must encourage partner tracing and inform the patient about possible ways to prevent their partners’ infections. Pregnant women are encouraged to undergo screening to prevent mother-to-child transmission. All pregnant women in most countries must undergo a compulsory HIV test to prevent vertical transmission incidences.

Transmission of STIs

Sexually transmitted infections are primarily acquired through sexual contact with an infected person. Transmission can also be through unsterilized needles, vertical transmission, blood transfusion, and breastfeeding. STIs hurt an individual’s health and can cause infertility, pelvic inflammatory diseases, gynecological cancers, and vaginal infections.

CDC 2016 estimates that young adults aged 15–24 acquire half of all new sexually transmitted infections and that one in every four sexually active young adult females have sexually transmitted infections (Oman et al., 2018). Young people are more likely to contract STIs than other social groups because of poor sex practices. Poor sex practice is commonly due to having multiple sexual partners, engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse, drug abuse, and other risky behaviors such as drug injections using shared needles.

Risk factors of STIs

Studies have shown that socially, economically challenged societies are more disadvantaged and are at more risk of getting infected with sexually transmitted infections. A study by Krieger et al. in 2016 found that their socioeconomic status influences the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections. The researchers noted that individuals’ income greatly influences their risk of contracting the disease.

It was also noted that African Americans are the largest segment affected by sexually transmitted infections. It was noted that young adults have an increased chance of contracting STIs due to a lack of stable jobs and hence have sex for commercial purposes. Increased commercial sex among young adults was one of the most significant contributors to sexually transmitted infections, hence the high number of youths with the disease.

The education level is crucial in creating knowledge and awareness of sexually transmitted infections. Education on sexual health from a tender age has been shown to reduce the number of young adults infected with sexually transmitted infections. It was noted from the study that the ability to adopt preventive and promotive health among the youths depends on their knowledge and awareness of STIs (Krieger et al., 2016).

The review found that knowledge and awareness level on preventing STDs among the youth is very low. In addition, young adults with knowledge of the prevention of STIs do not use the prevention measures such as the use of condoms. It is, therefore, important to improve and enhance proper sexual practices at the community level.

Changing sexual behaviors among young people is the most critical tool in preventing sexually transmitted infections (Spoth et al., 2017).

Despite increased awareness, the researchers also observed a constant rise in people contracting STIs. This may be due to recklessness and increased drug abuse which reduces consciousness levels during sex. They also noted an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections among drug users who injected themselves using shared needles and those having oral and anal sex.

Spoth et al. (2017) investigated the knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and sexual behaviors among male youths. The study showed that over 92% of the participants had heard at least one of the preventive measures for sexually transmitted infections and at least one of the causative agents (Spoth et al., 2017). The most commonly known diseases were syphilis, known by over 59 percent of the participants. Only 13% of the participants had heard of trichomonas and trichomoniasis. Over 90% of the correspondents knew about HIV and AIDS and how the disease is transmitted.

A large cohort study in Scandinavia on young adults aged 20–35 showed that over 28% of men and 53% of men had never been tested for sexually transmitted infections. The study also found that over 20% of the men did not know where to find testing services. Over 50% of the participants accepted having had unprotected sex (Spoth et al., 2017).

In another study, as reported by Krieger et al. (2016), one hundred and ninety-four female, young adults were found to have sexually transmitted diseases, and they related to shame and stigma as a hindrance to the young adults seeking medical treatments. The study found that those infected were less reluctant to go for medical treatment or checkups due to associated stigma. Paradoxically it was also found that those who were infected practiced a high level of precaution compared to those not infected with sexually transmitted infection.

El Maerrawi and Carvalho (2015) opined that people most likely to contract sexually transmitted infections are those who are likely to go to prison versus the young, unemployed, uneducated, and black Americans. This is because many of those in the same social and economic class have high-risk behaviors for contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, leading to criminal behaviors.

In prison, high-risk behaviors for transmitting HIV and other related infections include homosexual activities, intravenous injection of drugs using shared needles, and using contaminated sharp objects. Young adults are more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections due to poor sexual health education and high-risk sexual behavior.

Common STIs among youths

Trichomonas vaginalis is the causative agent of the disease trichomoniasis. It is the most typical sexually transmitted infection and is estimated to infect over 400 million people worldwide (Kann et al., 2014). Transmission is majorly through sexual intercourse, with the disease more prevalent in females than men (Oman et al., 2018).

Some risk factors predisposing an individual to trichomoniasis include drug abuse, low socioeconomic class, and a history of high-risk sexual practices such as anal sex. The effect of having the disease include pelvic inflammatory diseases, infertility, and fetal problems. Drugs of choice for the treatment of trichomoniasis include the use of nitroimidazole and metronidazole.

Gonorrhea infection infects over 500 million people across the world, according to the WHO 2016, while in the United States, gonorrhea is the second commonest infection, with an estimated 300000 people infected (Kann et al., 2014). The diseases present with the following symptoms: dysuria, redness, increased body temperature, vomiting, and diarrhea.

There has been an increased incidence rate due to high-risk sexual behaviors, such as the rise in gays in young adults. Patients infected with the disease are also at risk of being infected with C. trachomatis, and therefore, treatment should cover an infection with the disease. The most commonly used drugs for treating gonorrheal infections are doxycycline and ceftriaxone.

Management strategies for STIs

The treatment of sexually transmitted infections should include the use of the 4Cs of STI management (Gottlieb et al., 2014).

Compliance with drugs administered is the first C. The patient is required to adhere to the prescribed drugs, including the time of taking the drug and the dose. The patients are also taken through the counseling process, where they are taught the importance of managing STIs.

Another way of preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections is through the proper use of condoms. The last C of sexually transmitted infection is through contact tracing, partner treatment, and notification.

The 4 Cs: Compliance, Counseling, Condoms, & Contact Tracing.

Many studies have evolved to capture the need for education for women with their male partners to prevent the risky behavior and to acquire skills and knowledge to negotiate and adopt safer sexual practices to prevent the partners from being infected.

Implementing more advanced classes of kinesthetic learning techniques; for example, role plays, assertiveness, and communication, has been shown to reduce sexually transmitted infections (Gottlieb et al., 2014).

Follow-up services to assist in implementing behavioral changes are highly encouraged. Education, including comprehensive testing methods, community referrals, support groups, and counseling, must also be encouraged in society (Gottlieb et al., 2014).

Research suggests that in the future, more studies should emphasize women obtaining follow-up services after completing the sexually transmitted infections workshop. The women and young adults should continue to be studied even after they return to their community to see if continuous health education affects behavior modification.

References

El Maerrawi, I., & Carvalho, H. B. (2015). Prevalence and risk factors associated with HIV infection, hepatitis, and syphilis in a state prison of Sao Paulo. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 26(2), 120–127.

Gottlieb, S. L., Low, N., Newman, L. M., Bolan, G., Kamb, M., & Broutet, N. (2014). Toward global prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs): The need for STI vaccines. Vaccine, 32(14), 1527–1535.

Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S. L., Flint, K. H., Hawkins, J., Harris, W. A., & Whittle, L. (2014). Youth risk behavior surveillance — United States, 2013. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Surveillance Summaries, 63(4), 1–168.

Krieger, N., Waterman, P. D., Chen, J. T., Soobader, M. J., & Subramanian, S. V. (2016). Monitoring socioeconomic inequalities in sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and violence: geocoding and choice of area-based socioeconomic measures — the public health disparities geocoding project (US). Public Health Reports.

Oman, R. F., Vesely, S. K., Green, J., Clements-Nolle, K., & Lu, M. (2018). Adolescent pregnancy prevention among youths living in group care homes: a cluster randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Public Health, 108(S1), S38-S44.

Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Shin, C., Greenberg, M. T., Feinberg, M. E., & Trudeau, L. (2017). PROSPER delivery of universal preventive interventions with young adolescents: long-term effects on emerging adult substance misuse and associated risk behaviors. Psychological Medicine, 47(13), 2246–2259.

Steiner, R. J., Liddon, N., Swartzendruber, A. L., Pazol, K., & Sales, J. M. (2018). Moving the Message Beyond the Methods: Toward Integration of Unintended Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infection/HIV Prevention. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 54(3), 440–443.