Sex+Health

The latest statistics on STIs offer some good news—chlamydia cases are down for the second year and gonorrhea cases are down for a third year. Unfortunately, congenital syphilis increased for the 12th year in a row. Fred Wyand reflects on this news with ASHA interim CEO Becca Karpinski, in a wide ranging discussion on the current state of STIs in the U.S. Listen to learn about new options in STI home testing, ways we can prevent congenital syphilis, and why stigma and shame should have no part in your sex life. Resources Own the Awk, Tools for effective sexual health conversations from the National Coalition for Sexual Health Find Free or Low-Cost STI Testing Near You, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In this episode of our doxy PEP series, we continue the conversation with Maxfield Haynes, discussing how to talk with your provider and how to know if doxy PEP is right for you. Doxy PEP—or doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis—is a sexual health strategy that involves taking an oral antibiotic after sex to prevent chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Doxy PEP is the first new prevention method for bacterial STIs, and many experts believe it will be an important tool in our fight against this epidemic. Learn more about doxy PEP at https://www.ashasexualhealth.org/doxy-pep-is-a-new-strategy-to-help-prevent-stis/

In honor of Cervical Health Awareness Month, the National Cervical Cancer Coalition presents the Cervical Cancer Survivor Series. Across eight episodes, we share stories from cervical cancer survivors across the country, touching on topics including diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, as well as advice for others whose lives are impacted by this preventable disease. We also talked to providers in the field to answer questions about screening prevention and treatment. In this final episode, we hear from all of our survivors from this series—Jen English, Shaundra Hall, Aisha McClellan, Selena Rushton, and Cheryla Thompson. We talked to them about a range of topics, including advice they've received and would offer others after a diagnosis, how family and friends can best offer support to loved ones dealing with cancer, what they would say to anyone considering the HPV vaccine, and why they decided to become involved in advocacy. 568673

There's a new way to screen for cervical cancer with self-collection. People can take a sample of cells from their own vagina to test for HPV. The FDA recently approved this for use in providers offices. There's no pelvic exam stirrups or speculum involved. Research has shown that the results are just as accurate as when samples are collected by a clinician. Self-collection has the potential to expand testing to other healthcare settings and reach underscreened populations. In this episode, we speak to Jennifer S. Smith, PhD, who has been involved in the research around HPV for decades to explain this new method to us, and how it might help us reach the goal of eliminating cervical cancer.

In honor of Cervical Health Awareness Month, the National Cervical Cancer Coalition presents the Cervical Cancer Survivor Series. Across eight episodes, we share stories from cervical cancer survivors across the country, touching on topics including diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, as well as advice for others whose lives are impacted by this preventable disease. We also talked to providers in the field to answer questions about screening prevention and treatment. In this episode, we speak to Aisha McClellan. Aisha went to a clinic with symptoms, and was sent home with antibiotics for an STI she didn't have. It took three visits before she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Aisha had to be her own advocate for health care, which inspired her to become an advocate on TikTok, where she has over 25,000 followers. Follow Aisha on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@aisha_the_advocate Learn more about cervical cancer prevention at the National Cervical Cancer Coalition website at www.nccc-online.org/

In honor of Cervical Health Awareness Month, the National Cervical Cancer Coalition presents the Cervical Cancer Survivor Series. Across eight episodes, we share stories from cervical cancer survivors across the country, touching on topics including diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, as well as advice for others whose lives are impacted by this preventable disease. We also talked to providers in the field to answer questions about screening prevention and treatment. In this episode we speak to Shaundra Hall. Shaundra tells us that her very first Pap test came back abnormal, but she still didn't know anything about cervical cancer when she was diagnosed. She also talks about how this experience changed the course of her life, both personally and professionally. To learn more about clinical trials, visit https://clinicaltrials.gov. Learn more about Shaundra and her NCCC chapter at http://www.nccc-online.org/nccc-arizona-southwest-regional/ Learn more about cervical cancer prevention at the National Cervical Cancer Coalition website at www.nccc-online.org/

In honor of Cervical Health Awareness Month, the National Cervical Cancer Coalition presents the Cervical Cancer Survivor Series. Across eight episodes, we share stories from cervical cancer survivors across the country, touching on topics including diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, as well as advice for others whose lives are impacted by this preventable disease. We also talked to providers in the field to answer questions about screening prevention and treatment. In this episode we speak to Cherlya Thompson about the wonderful support she received during her cancer treatment, which took place far from home, and how that experience inspired her to help others. Cherlya also tells us about how she had to teach her grandchild's pediatrician about the importance of the HPV vaccine. Learn more about Cherlya and her NCCC chapter at http://www.nccc-online.org/nccc-south-carolina-goose/ Learn more about cervical cancer prevention at the National Cervical Cancer Coalition website at www.nccc-online.org/

More than 2.4 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported in the U.S. in 2023. Still, the numbers show the cases of reportable STIs tended to decrease, or at least saw a sharp decline in the rate by which they increased. In this episode of the Sex+Health podcast, we talk with Bradley Stoner, MD, PhD, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of STD Prevention, for his thoughts on what's driving the epidemic and why the latest data show there may be cause for optimism. *STI Fact Sheets: https://www.cdc.gov/sti/communication-resources/index.html * Free, Confidential Testing: https://gettested.cdc.gov/ * STI Statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/sti-statistics/index.html * How to prevent STIs: https://www.cdc.gov/sti/prevention/index.html * About congenital syphilis: https://www.cdc.gov/syphilis/about/about-congenital-syphilis.html * Preventing STIs with doxy PEP: https://www.cdc.gov/sti/prevention/doxy-pep.html * Conversation tips: https://www.cdc.gov/sti-awareness/pbyt/conversation.html * The conversation badge: https://www.cdc.gov/sti-awareness/pbyt/badges.html