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  • LEADING CONTRIBUTORS TO DEATH & DISABILITY WORLDWIDE IN 1999 Findings: 1) "unsafe" sexual behavior is the 3rd greatest contributor to worldwide death & disability 2) HIV and other STDs were the 2nd and 18th leading causes of worldwide death and disability, respectively. The high toll of HIV and other STDs in terms of loss of life & disability requires that we redouble our efforts to educate people about the risks of nonmarital sexual activity & the importance of monogamy within marriage. [[JAMA 2001;285:535-539, Michaud et al, "Burden of Disease: Implications for Future Research"; MISH, 21Feb01]
  • HPV VIRUS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO ESOPHAGEAL CANCER – Certain strains of the wart-causing human papilloma virus may raise the risk of esophageal cancer [Abstinence E-mail Update, 31Oct02] www.abstinence.net/ArticleDetail.cfm?388
  • TOM COBURN, M.D., former OK congressman and practicing OBG is co-chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, HHS Secretary in the first Bush administration, will be the other chairman. (Joe McIlhaney, Jr, M.D., President of The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, will also serve on PACHA.) Dr. Coburn is a critic of CDC programs and "an unabashed supporter of sexual abstinence outside marriage". [Washington Times, 23Jan02; Abstinence Network, Spring 02] Evertz, "openly gay director" of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, is concerned about the Bush "conservative" AIDS advisory council and wants to form an ad hoc committee composed of people now working in AIDS prevention to "keep the AIDS policy office informed of what is going on in HIV prevention and care" Evertz said. [San Francisco Bay Area Reporter, 12Feb02; Abstinence Network, spring02]
  • A STUDY OF BALTIMORE WOMEN WHO MISCARRIED at 5 months or later, or whose baby died, found that one-third of them had previously suffered a similar loss. A team of medical and social professionals reviewed the records of 204 women (about two-thirds of the reported fetal and infant deaths, 1998): almost 50% of the women had a perinatal infection (ex. STD). Many pregnant women treated for STDs often get re-infected because their male partner isn’t treated, the report indicated. [The Baltimore City Perinatal Systems Review; HIV Update, 30Jan02; Baltimore Sun, 29Jan02; Abstinence Network, Spring02]
  • HPV – A "recent article in a British medical journal looked at the spread of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus, which causes cervical cancer) among women during their first sexual relationship. The study found that after 3 years, 46% of the women who had only one sexual partner were infected with HPV. [letter dtd 3/2002, Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., M.D. from The Medical Institute for Sexual Health]
  • CONGRESSMEN ASK FOR HPV INVESTIGATION– U.S. Representatives Tauzin & Pitts, of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, have written a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson about the apparent lack of action by the CDC on several points of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act (P.L. 106-354). Full details: www.abstinence.net/ArticleDetail.cfm?ArticleID=329.
  • HEPATITIS B VACCINATION -This year marks the 20th anniversary of the implementation in the United States of the world’s first vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV). In addition to acute disease, persons infected with HBV are at risk for chronic HBV infection and severe morbidity and mortality from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Before 1982, an estimated 200,000–300,000 persons in the USA were infected annually with HBV, including approximately 20,000 children (1). During 1982–2002, an estimated 40 million infants and children and 30 million adults received hepatitis B vaccine. Because of vaccination / changes in risk-reduction behaviors among at-risk populations in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the number of persons infected in the USA declined to an estimated 79,000 in 2001. In 1982, ACIP recommended pre-exposure vaccination initially for groups with a high risk for HBV infection.* However, by 1989, it had become evident that members of these groups (e.g., men who have sex with men [MSM], injection-drug users [IDUs], and heterosexual persons with multiple partners) were not being vaccinated in substantial numbers. Health-care workers comprised 80% of the approximately 2.5 million persons vaccinated during the 1980s; however, only 5% of acute hepatitis B cases occurred among health-care workers (3).

    In 1991, recognizing the difficulty of vaccinating high-risk adults and the substantial burden of HBV-related disease acquired from infections in childhood, ACIP recommended…universal childhood vaccination, prevention of perinatal HBV transmission, vaccination of adolescents and adults in high-risk groups, and catch-up vaccinations for susceptible children in high-risk populations. In 1995, ACIP recommended the routine vaccination of all adolescents aged 11–12 years who had not been vaccinated previously (>5), and in 1999, ACIP recommended that all unvaccinated children aged <19 years be vaccinated. During 1986–2000, the rate of acute hepatitis B among children aged 1–9 years declined >80%. During 1983–1995, the rate of HBV infection in health-care workers declined 95% and is now lower than the rate for the general U.S. population. In 1994, the prevalence of chronic HBV infection among Alaska Natives aged <10 years (i.e., children born after routine vaccination began) was zero, compared with 16% among Alaska Natives aged 11–30 years (9). [CDC, MMWR Weekly, 28June02]

  • The CDC released a REPORT ON NONOXYNOL-9 on 10 May 02, confirming that N-9 products do not prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS, chlamydia, or gonorrhea: "Most contraceptives do not protect against transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and the use of some contraceptives containing nonoxynol-9 (N-9) might increase the risk for HIV sexual transmission…The 2002 STD treatment guidelines state that condoms lubricated with spermicides are no more effective than other lubricated condoms in protecting against the transmission of HIV infection and other STDs…In the future, purchase of condoms lubricated with N-9 is not recommended because of their increased cost, shorter shelf life, association with urinary tract infections in young women, and lack of apparent benefit compared with other lubricated condoms…In 1994, a total of 49% of all pregnancies were unintended. Furthermore, 26% of women experience an unintended pregnancy during the first year of typical use of spermicide products…N-9 alone is not an effective means to prevent infection with HIV or cervical gonorrhea and chlamydia…"
  • BRITAIN SUFFERING FROM STD EPIDEMIC — "The Times" of London has just reported that Britain faces an epidemic of STDs-and young men/women have the highest rates of infection. Cases of gonorrhea have increased 74% in men and 75% in women since 1995. Syphilis in men has risen 211% in the past three years. Chlamydia, a serious bacterial infection has increased 141% since 1995 in girls ages 16-19. This infection can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease and sterility. [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,7-2002044925,00.html, TVC News, 1Feb02]
  • MOZAMBICAN WOMEN AT HIGH RISK OF CERVICAL CANCER – a Lancet study warns that over one-third of women in southern Mozambique carry HPV which can lead to cervical cancer. Commonly, there is infection by several strains of HPV (about 100 strains have been identified

    ). [Abstinence Network, Winter 01, HIV Update International, 6Nov01; Xinhua News Agency, 31Oct01]

  • One-quarter of sexually active teens (3 million teens) acquire STDs each year. Forty-four percent of teen girls are on the pill; 38% use condoms; 10% use injectable contraceptives. [AN]
  • HPV MAY BE LINKED TO SKIN CANCER — The Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd. Daily Record reported that researchers believe skin cancer may be caused by a sexually transmitted virus. Human papillomavirus (HPV), a family of viruses involved in cervical cancer, have also been found in people with skin cancer. Researchers from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund now believe these may disable the skin’s defenses against ultraviolet radiation from the sun, making it more susceptible to cancer. [Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 8Dec00]
  • ACOG Bemoans Lack of Public Knowledge About HPV — In an ironic twist of circumstances, ACOG issued a press release in October citing the lack of knowledge among high school students about the human papillomavirus (HPV). Last spring ACOG heavily lobbied Congress against a warning label for condoms, which would state that they do not protect against this sexually transmitted disease, the most frequent STD in North America. ACOG has also fought off congressional attempts for two years to initiate a national HPV education campaign.
  • ACOG reported that the information most high schools students receive about HPV is more likely to come from school classes and media sources than from their physicians, suggesting that doctors’ offices and clinics should take greater responsibility in sexual health education. They also stated that in a survey of 523 inner-city high school students in Toronto, Canada, 87 percent of youths ages 15-20 had never heard of HPV and only one in three sexually experienced teens considered themselves at risk for HPV. Although 82 percent of the teens had seen a doctor within the past year, only 58 percent had time to talk with the doctor privately and only 21 percent talked about sexual health issues.  The entire press release: www.acog.com/from_home/publicaitons/press_releases/nr10-31-00-5.htm [Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 8Dec00]
  • CDC RELEASES FIRST NATIONAL STUDY ON HPV — The federal CDC released the first national study on 5 Dec on the prevalence of the human papilloma virus (HPV), an incurable sexually transmitted disease (STD) linked to over 99% of cervical cancers. Cervical cancer kills approximately 5,000 women each year, and according to an article featured on the American Cancer Society’s website, "Recent research shows that condoms cannot protect against infection with HPV." The new CDC study found that infection with HPV is the most common STD, with nearly 18% of American women and 8% of American men showing evidence that they had been infected by the virus at some point in their lives. [Family Research Council, 12/8/00; Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 3Jan2001]
  • The Link Between Chlamydia & Cervical Cancer– a report from Finland concerns Chlamydia and its relationship to cervical cancer. In the article, the finding that cervical cancer is caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) is reinforced, but the role of Chlamydia is reviewed.

    HPV is recognized as the cause of cervical cancer. Still, the number of people who actually contract cervical cancer is a small fraction of those who have HPV. Further research needs to be done to find other factors that contribute to the malignant change, such as the possible link to Chlamydia. The chlamydia trachomatis organism can be sub-typed. The storage of serum samples dating back decades enabled the Finns to perform DNA-based tests now that were not available at the time of sample collection. The principal finding was that chlamydia trachomatis sub-types G and D were most strongly correlated to eventual cervical cancer in the presence of HPV. This finding does not mandate a change in diagnosis or treatment at this point. The results cannot be generalized to other populations. Furthermore, the study must be replicated or confirmed with other research. What remains clear is that there are very high rates of disease without symptoms, all spread by sexual intercourse with more than one person. The fact that there are no symptoms, no highly effective prevention, and poor ability to diagnose the diseases in men leads to one inevitable conclusion: Abstinence until marriage and chastity within marriage are the only healthy choices, and the only manner in which to curtail the nationwide infestation of [STDs] [JAMA, 3Jan01; 8Jan01 by John Diggs, MD; Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update 24Jan01]

For more recent medical research information regarding STDs and oral sex, go to http://www.medinstitute.org/medical/updates/Spring%202003.pdf