Goin’ down, revisited

I feel the need to clarify my previous post about the risks of oral sex and the lack of adequate information about sex in our schools. If my words implied that there is no sex education taking place in our schools, then I didn’t convey my thoughts well.

Of course, there is sex education happening. There was when I was in school, for Pete’s sake.

However, there are still many schools that push an abstinence-only approach; I’m betting that religious schools aren’t real big on teaching safe sex. They’re just saying “Don’t do it.” There is a constant fight to keep state legislatures from limiting the information available in public schools because of outcries from religious conservatives who think that having their kids hear anything about SEX is going to drive them straight into promiscuity. There is also a huge backlash against the HPV vaccine from religious conservatives who think that such a vaccine will also lead to promiscuity.

It seems that in the religious conservative world, all informational roads lead to promiscuity. Hmm.

The truth is that many teenagers think that oral sex is safe sex. (You can read the full CDC report on oral sex here.) In that respect, our sex education is failing kids because we are not teaching them all the risks or giving them all the information that is available. Hell, I bet most adults think that oral sex means safe sex. I stand by my original remarks that we are a nation of prudes that is afraid to talk about such things in a frank and honest way. When I have discussions with friends overseas, they are amused by us, feeling that we are uptight about nudity and sexuality. It’s true, and I chalk it all up to the religious right.

In the meantime, we’ve still got 11 and 12 year old girls getting pregnant. So tell me again how the sex education in our schools is so exceptional?

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I would also like to address comment moderation here. I do not have moderation enabled, but as sole proprietor of this hyeah blog establishment, I reserve the right to kill any comment at any time. I do not object to alternative viewpoints, but I object to certain people with a vendetta leaving comments here. What part of “get out of our lives” don’t you understand? I may let some of your comments stand just for humorous purposes, but chances are better than average that anything you leave here is going to be deleted, because you are not welcome here. I don’t think I can make it any clearer than that. My advice to you is to make an honest attempt to move on, because it’s obvious that even after over a decade, you still have not.

My blog, my rules. It’s as simple as that.

Infection Connection: Goin’ Down

The Interwebz is abuzz with Michael Douglas’s revelation that his throat cancer was caused not by smoking or drinking, but by oral sex.

That’s right. In a case of maybe a little too much information, he said that it happened because he caught HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) from performing cunnilingus.

The jokes just kind of write themselves on this one, but I am thinking that he has done public health a great service by speaking publicly about this.

This might lead to a greater dialogue about HPV vaccination for not just young girls, but young boys; it might also help to get the word out that contrary to what far too many young people believe, oral sex is not necessarily safe sex.

HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer, but it can indeed cause oral cancers. Various other sexually transmitted infections can be transferred through oral sex: Herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV, Chlamydia, and even Hepatitis B. From what I’ve read, a lot of kids think that oral sex is no big deal and they won’t catch anything from it. That couldn’t be further from the truth, and although other types of sex carry a greater risk, oral is still very much a way to catch an STI.

There has been some backlash against the HPV vaccine, with some people thinking it will lead to promiscuity and that great scientific mind, Michele Bachmann, saying that “someone told her” that their daughter became “mentally retarded” after getting the shot. Hey, Michele Bachmann, someone told me that you’re a freakin’ idiot! In fact, several people have told me that, so there you go. Must be true!

Anyway, all I can say to that is that we now have a vaccine that HELPS PREVENT CANCER. One of the tasks I did in the lab for many years was HPV testing. I remember how excited we were in the Microbiology world when they first realized the HPV-cervical cancer connection, developed the diagnostic test for early identification, and then came out with the HPV vaccine. This is a way to vaccinate against cancer. How amazing is that?? It still astounds me, and I hope that my working on that test for several years helped at least a few women get diagnosed early enough to get effective treatment and save their lives.

We had positive results for HPV, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia on girls as young as 12. Sometimes the diagnosis listed in their information was “pregnancy.” (Anyone who is pregnant gets STI tests.) Abstinence-only education just doesn’t work, folks. Anyone who thinks so has forgotten what it’s like to be a horny teenager. You can certainly stress that it is okay to NOT indulge, but safety and prevention also must be taught and stressed. Part of that education needs to include the risks of oral sex. It most certainly is not safe sex. SafeR, maybe, but definitely not completely safe.

So I applaud Michael Douglas for saying what he did in that interview. It might result in plenty of jokes, but I think it will also generate a discussion about sexuality that we are way too reluctant to have in this country. We are seriously a bunch of prudes, and sex and sexuality is treated as something not to be discussed, or if it is, only whispered about in private conversations. Certainly not discussed in school! When you create such an atmosphere of mystique about something, it becomes catnip for any adolescent or young adult. Education isn’t going to make them do it. They’re already doing it! But maybe it will keep them a little safer. Isn’t that the most important thing?

Thank you, Michael Douglas...and thank you, Michael Douglas’s tongue! You guys rock!