A few unwelcome reminders of spring break

Like a trip to Vegas, many students assume that what happens during spring break stays there. Yet, an increasingly high number of college students are bringing with them back to campus an unwelcome reminder of their time off: sexually transmitted diseases.

Deborah Mathis, the women's health coordinator at Penn, said there is an increase in the number of students visiting Student Health Services to test for sexually transmitted infections after spring break.

According to Mathis, the period represents the single largest jump in STD visits during the course of the academic year, although there are more cases in total at the beginning of each fall semester, when students return from summer vacation.

The phenomenon has also been noticed at other schools across the country.

Temple University Nurse Practitioner Barbara Kazan said, "We see a lot more visits for concern over spring break."

Kazan says that most patients picked up their diseases in exotic tropical locations such as Florida or Mexico.

Cornell University Health Services Representative Sharon Dittman has also noticed a marked increase in STD cases after spring break.

However, Dittman claims that the location of students' spring break getaways has nothing to do with their chances of contracting an STD.

"If students go to Cancun, the people they are seeing in general are American students," she said, adding that the STDs acquired during that time are the same as those transmitted on campus.

Herpes, gonorrhea and Human papilloma virus (HPV) are among the most common STDs acquired over spring break, according to Kazan.

Certain strains of HPV cause genital warts.

College students' lack of awareness about STDs plays a large part in facilitating their spread.

"At least 25 percent of the people who have herpes don't even know about it," Kazan said.

HPV infections also often go unnoticed for long periods of time. The disease exhibits no symptoms in men, but can lead to cervical cancer for women.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least 50 percent of sexually-active Americans will be infected with HPV at some point in their lives.

Of students who test for STDs at Penn, however, only 1 percent come up positive -- compared with a national average of 2.4 percent for college students -- according to the American Collegiate Health Association.

A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Stout recently verified the notion that students have more promiscuous sex over spring break.

The study found that only a small minority of vacationers use condoms during sexual intercourse. More surprisingly, males with girlfriends back home were more likely to have new sexual partners over spring break than those not in a relationship.

Look out below

- Herpes: A recurrent skin condition that can cause irritations in the genital region. Symptoms last up to 4 weeks. - Gonorrhea: A treatable bacterial infection of the penis, vagina or anus that causes pain or a burning feeling as well as a pus-like discharge. Most men exhibit symptoms within two days to five days after exposure. Most women infected remain without symptoms. - HPV: A virus that affects skin in the genital area, as well as the cervix. Symptoms can takethe form of wart-like growths or cell changes. Warts may appear within several weeks or years.

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