A groundbreaking Canadian study of heterosexual couples has found that more than half of young adults engaged in a new sexual relationship were infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Of this group of young adults, 44 per cent had the type of HPV that causes cancer, according to results from the HITCH Cohort Study — short for HPV Infection and Transmission in Couples through Heterosexual activity.
“It is a high number, but that number was not entirely unexpected,” said Ann Burchell, the study’s project co-ordinator and a post-doctoral fellow at McGill University’s Cancer Epidemiology Unit. “We know that HPV is a very common infection already, particularly in young people. We know that people are at a high risk of getting HPV just after acquiring a new partner.”
So you’re reading this thinking, “Oh, I’m probably fine since we always use condoms”? Think again.
The use of condoms generally reduces the rate of infection, Burchell said, but they don’t provide perfect protection.
“Even among couples in our study that used condoms all of the time, still more than 40 per cent of those men and women had an HPV infection,” she said.
There is no such thing as “safe” sex. There is only sex (with all its associated risks – and the fun bits, too), and no sex. I’m not saying young people should not be having any sex. I’m just saying they should be very careful who they’re having sex with.
Andrea adds: This seems like a good moment to advertise that Dr. Miriam Grossman, who as campus psychiatrist at UCLA has seen some of the mental health effects for young women engaging in risky sex, is coming to Ottawa on March 11. For more information, check here.
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With all the research on adolescent brain development that shows adolescents are still developing the ability to process information is it believable that adolescents can make a wise or healthy decision on the realities of sexual activity? It seems not. Being responsible implies being capable of understanding and deciding upon a task. I agree that ‘safe sex’ is a ‘mythological’ misnomer and thus a dangerous concept to advocate. It is also a dangerous to imply that the individual has the ability to successfully achieve ‘safe sex’.
Hey, Brigitte,
So, what is the difference between “safe s_x” and being very careful about with whom you have s_x? Neither encourages people to give at least some thought to the significance and power s_x has in human relationships. In fact, the prevalence of STIs in the general population should serve as some kind of warning that we need to reconsider our “it’s going to happen anyway” approach to sexual behaviours.
I would argue that s_x in a committed, monogamous, heterosexual marriage where both people waited for the right person and time, is the only safe s_x. Happily, it’s also when s_x is really fun, because caution and fear are not lurking in the background. I see nothing wrong with encouraging young people to reconsider everything they’ve ever been “taught” about s_x.
Hi Lauri, I agree with you – I just expressed myself clumsily. My “very” careful was short for “not having sex indiscriminately”, which would be an improvement. That’s a step down from the “wait until you find the right person” but it sure is a step up from the kind of stuff that goes on in a hook-up culture.
Folks: Our spam filter will reject you if the word “sex” is used multiple times in your comment. May I suggest then using “s_x” or something like that in order to post legitimate comments, like Lauri’s.
Thanks,
The Management
I’ll be interested to see the HPV figures in another decade or five, once the effects of vaccination programs kick in.
HPV vaccines are only effective against four of the 100-ish strains out there, Suricou. I’m thinking that this disease can morph much faster than we can keep up with. We certainly haven’t done a very good job at slowing the rise of STDs over the last fifty years.
Indeed, they are only effective against four strains. The four most common cancer-inducing strains.
I agree about the STI rise issue. They are nothing new by any means (Hah, we’ve had *royalty* with syphilis over here before!), but they are more common. On the upside, they are also less severe with modern medicine. HIV is still a killer, but all the big nasties of the past are either cureable with simple antibiotics (syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea) or can be be at least kept surpressed (herpes). I’m expecting the next fitey years to see further advance.