Princess Health and Studies conclude that abstinence pledges do little to cut youth sexual activity, pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Studies conclude that abstinence pledges do little to cut youth sexual activity, pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases. Princessiccia

diseases education sex education sexually transmitted diseases youth

Gusty 13:17 Add Comment

Abstinence pledges�sometimes called purity pledges�don't keep young people from engaging in sex, contracting sexually transmitted diseases or avoiding pregnancy, according to a pair of studies, Denise-Marie Ordway reports for Journalist's Resource. The main problem is that students are not receiving enough sex education. A federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report from December 2015 found that "fewer than half of high schools and only a fifth of middle schools teach all 16 topics recommended by CDC as essential components of sexual health education."(CDC graphic)

A 2005 study by Yale and Columbia universities found that 88 percent of youth who take the abstinence pledge engage in pre-marital sex, Ordway writes. "The study found that pledgers were just as likely to get STDs as those who never made a pledge of virginity."

A more recent study, published in April in the Journal of Marriage and Family, found that among students in grades 7 to 12, "as a whole, young women who did not take abstinence pledges and those who did but broke them were equally likely to acquire HPV, a common STD," Ordway writes. "Approximately 27 percent of each group tested positive for HPV. Of the young women who had two or more sex partners, pledge breakers were more likely to have HPV. The difference was largest among women who had between six and 10 sex partners. One-third of women who had not taken a pledge and had six to 10 sex partners tested positive for HPV. Meanwhile, 51 percent of pledgers who had six to 10 sex partners acquired HPV. About 30 percent of pledgers and 18 percent of non-pledgers became pregnant within six years after they began having sexual intercourse outside of marriage."

"In the U.S, the teen pregnancy rate is higher than in any other western industrialized country, according to the CDC," Ordway writes. "At the same time, a growing number of American teens and young adults have been diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). While individuals aged 15 to 24 make up 27 percent of the U.S. population that is sexually active, the CDC estimates that they account for half of the 20 million new infections occurring annually."

Princess Health and Kentucky is in the bottom 10 states for cancer-preventing HPV vaccination, probably because it has to do with sex. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Kentucky is in the bottom 10 states for cancer-preventing HPV vaccination, probably because it has to do with sex. Princessiccia

cancer cervical cancer HPV sexually transmitted diseases vaccinations

Gusty 09:16 Add Comment

The human papillomavirus vaccination is nearly 100 percent effective in preventing precancers and noninvasive cervical cancers caused by two strains of the virus, but most parents in Kentucky and the nation are still not getting their adolescents vaccinated.

HPV is a group of more than 150 related viruses, which together are the most common sexually transmitted infections in the U.S.

An estimated 79 million Americans are infected with HPV and about 14 million more become infected each year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while most HPV strains cause no symptoms and go away on their own, 10 percent of HPV infections lead to cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus and throat.

The HPV vaccination was approved by the federal government 10 years ago and is recommended for all adolescent girls and boys 11 and 12 years old. Nationwide, fewer than half of girls and only one-fifth of boys are getting immunized.

Kentucky falls in the bottom 10 states for HPV vaccinations, with 37.5 percent of its girls and 13.3 percent of boys aged 13 to 17 vaccinated as of 2014.

The vaccine can be given to females as old as 26 and males as old as 21, but early vaccination is important. The vaccine is less effective if a person has already been exposed to the virus, because it works to prevent HPV before exposure, and not to treat existing HPV infections or associated diseases. Vaccinating adolescents better protects them before they are likely to become sexually active and exposed to the virus.

And therein lies the key reason health experts say most parents don't get their children vaccinated and health providers are hesitant to push this potentially life-saving vaccine: It has to do with sex, Michael Ollove reports for Stateline.

But guess what? Almost 42 percent of Kentucky's high-school students say they have had sexual intercourse, and almost one-third of them say they are currently sexually active, according to the 2015 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey. And, almost 10 percent of the state's middle-school students say they have had sex.

Opponents of the vaccine being given to adolescents argue that it encourages them to engage in sex because it removes the fear of contracting HPV, but at least one study shows no increase in sexual activity in girls who have been immunized, Ollove reports.

Health officials often lament that the vaccine wasn't originally sold to the public as an anti-cancer vaccine rather than one to prevent a sexually transmitted disease, Ollove reports.

�It should have been pushed out as an anti-cancer drug,�Walt Orenstein, a professor of medicine at Emory University and the former director of the National Immunization Program at the CDC, told Ollove. �People didn�t understand why their children needed this drug when they were still years away from being sexually active.�

Ollove notes other reasons for low vaccination rates: Health-care providers often don't stress the importance of the vaccine; many don't promote the vaccine because they aren't comfortable talking about sex with their young patients or their parents; and many providers feel the vaccine is not urgent because most adolescents in middle school are not sexually active. Another barrier is that the the HPV vaccine requires three inoculations over several months; the CDC shows a dramatic drop-off between the first and last doses.

Citing Noel Brewer, who does research on immunizations at the University of North Carolina and has studied parental and provider attitudes toward HPV, Ollove writes, "Contrary to what doctors may believe, parents are interested in the vaccine and a strong recommendation from a physician correlates highly with youngsters getting the full course of vaccinations."

Ollove notes that mandatory HPV immunizations have not proven to be successful. �Mandates are a last resort after you�ve built consensus that they are a good thing to do,� Orenstein told him.

Health policy researchers say that "reminder and recall" notices are the best way to keep patients up to date on vaccinations, and yet this is not a common practice, Ollove reports.

Insurance will cover the cost of the HPV vaccine and the Vaccines for Children Program will cover the vaccine at no cost for children who don't have insurance and are younger than 19. Call 800-232-4636 for more details.

The Kentucky Rural Health Association in collaboration with the Kentucky Immunization Program and the state Division of Women's Health will be hosting Kentucky's HPV Summit, "HPV: You ARE the Key!," at the Embassy Suites in Lexington June 21. The cost is $40 until June 1 and $55 afterward. Click here to register.

Princess Health and Teens who talk to their parents about sex make the best choices; Clark County will offer parenting classes on sex communication. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Teens who talk to their parents about sex make the best choices; Clark County will offer parenting classes on sex communication. Princessiccia

education pregnancy sex education sexually transmitted diseases teens

Gusty 08:19 Add Comment

In an average Kentucky high school class of 30 students, almost 13 of the teenagers say they have had sexual intercourse at least once, but many of them have never discussed sex with their parents.

And while Kentucky parents may think their children are learning about sex in the classroom because Kentucky mandates sex education, they may not realize that the state has no set curriculum for fact-based, comprehensive sex education, and the only thing required to be taught is abstinence -- an approach that has been proven ineffective, Aaron Yarmuth reports for Leo Weekly in an in-depth article about sex education in the state.

This lack of parent-teen communication about sex has prompted a study in Clark County that will include classes to help parents become more comfortable talking about sex with their children, Whitney Leggett reports for The Winchester Sun.

The classes will be led by Shannon Phelps of Winchester as part of her research to earn a doctorate in interdisciplinary education sciences from the University of Kentucky, Leggett reports. It is funded by a $15,700 grant from the Clark County Community Foundation.

�Because the subject matter is not one that many people are comfortable with, part of the objective is to help increase parents� comfort in discussing sexual health topics so they will be more likely to address those topics with their children,� Phelps told Leggett.

"The overall goals of the program are to increase frequency and quality of parent-child sexual health communication, improve parents� comfort and confidence in their communication with their children about sexual health topics and increase openness of sexual communication between parents and their children," Leggett writes. "Topics will range from abstinence to safe sex, contraception, resisting peer pressure and communicating with potential partners, among others."

Phelps said the six week courses will promote parent-child sexual health communication, which is associated with better sexual health outcomes for young people.

�Research tells us that children, especially adolescents, who have parents who communicate with them about sexual health topics have better sexual health outcomes,� Phelps told Leggett. �That follows logic... Sometimes parents are hesitant to talk to their children for fear that they�ll go and have risky sexual behaviors, but research tells us the opposite.�

Phelps told Leggett that studies show that when parents talk to their children about sex, "it can delay the onset of sexual behaviors and reduce unintended outcomes like sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies," Leggett writes.

For more information email Phelps at shannon.phelps@uky.edu, or call 859-621-1065.

A study published in the Pediatric Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly one-fourth of youth report that they have not discussed sexual topics with their parents, and even fewer report that they have had meaningful, open conversations with them about this subject. The study attributes this poor communication to parental embarrassment, parents' lack of accurate knowledge of the subject, and poor self-efficacy.

It's a topic that needs discussion in Kentucky because almost 10 percent of the state's middle-school students have had sexual intercourse and almost one-third of its high school students are sexually active, according to the 2015 Kentucky Middle and High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey.  The survey found that overall, 41.7 percent of Kentucky's high school students have had sexual intercourse at least once.

And there is an obvious disconnect related to birth control. Kentucky ranks seventh in teen births, at 39.5 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19, according to America's Health Rankings. The 2015 YRBS found that 14.5 percent of high school students did not use any birth- control during the last time they had sexual intercourse.

Princess Health and Study finds that one dose of HPV vaccine that targets only cervical cancer is as effective as three doses, now recommended.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Study finds that one dose of HPV vaccine that targets only cervical cancer is as effective as three doses, now recommended.Princessiccia

cancer cervical cancer HPV human papillomavirus immunizations research sexually transmitted diseases vaccinations

Gusty 13:53 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

A study has found that one dose of the human papillomavirus vaccine Cervarix appears to be as effective in preventing HPV infections that lead to cervical cancer as do three doses, the recommended course of vaccination. Only 25 percent of Kentucky adolescent women initiate the vaccination, and fewer than one in nine of those who do get three does, according to the Kentucky Cancer Consortium.

"Many women around the world and in the U.S. don't get the full three doses that are recommended, so this is promising news," said Elisia Cohen, an associate professor of communication at the University of Kentucky, who does extensive research on community strategies to improve adolescent and adult vaccinations. However, she cautioned that the drug Cervarix is "only 1 percent of the U.S. market" and that the findings from this study do not apply to Gardasil, the drug most commonly used in the U.S.

Dr. Diane Harper of the University of Louisville, one of the researchers, said in a news release, �Kentucky is one of the states that has not had a program in place to make Cervarix available to all of its citizens, and has very low three-dose completion rates of Gardasil.�

Most health departments and physicians choose Gardasil over Cervarix because it protects against four strains of HPV: two strains that cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers and two strains that cause genital warts and oral and anal cancers, concerns for males as well as females. Cervarix only protects against the two strains that cause cervical cancer. "Generally, the thinking is that protection against four strains is better that two," Cohen said.

She said Gardasil 9, which will protect against 90 percent of HPV strains that cause cervical cancer as well as pre-invasive cervical cancer lesions, has just been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is going through its labeling process, and will be recommended for both boys and girls.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., affecting an estimated 79 million individuals, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, published in The Lancet Oncology, analyzed data from two large trials of Cervarix. In the trials, women were randomly chosen to receive three doses of Cervarix or a control vaccine. All of the women were evaluated, regardless of how many doses of the vaccine they received, for the effectiveness of the vaccine for a period of four years. The analysis found that the protection from one dose was similar to that achieved by three doses of the vaccine.

�Knowing that Cervarix offers protection in one dose reassures public health agencies that they are not wasting money when most of their vaccines are given to those who never complete the three-dose series,� the researchers wrote.

The CDC recommends HPV vaccination for girls 11 and 12 years old, and catch-up vaccination for females from 13 to 26. The second dose should be given one to two months after the first injection; the third dose should be administered six months after the first dose.