Home > News

TUESDAY, April 6 (HealthDayNews) -- Americans' lack of knowledge may be putting them at risk for sexually transmitted diseases, according to a new survey.

While 84 percent of those surveyed by the American Social Health Association (ASHA) said they undertake the necessary precautions to protect themselves during sexual activity, the follow-up questions showed otherwise. Forty-five percent admitted they did not use protection during vaginal intercourse; 66 percent reported not using protection during anal intercourse; 91 percent said they used no protection during oral sex.

In addition, 68 percent said they were not concerned about contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD). And one out of three had never discussed STDs with their partners.

Dr. James Allen, the president of ASHA and a former U.S. assistant surgeon general, said he was "distressed" by the findings.

"People think they know a lot and yet, in fact, they either don't know as much as they think they do when we get into specific questions, or what people actually do doesn't coincide with the level of knowledge that they say they have," he said.

According to ASHA, one in four Americans will be infected with an STD at some point in their life. In 2000, there were almost 19 million new infections, costing an estimated $8 billion to diagnose and treat.

The survey, which questioned 1,155 people between the ages of 18 and 35 as part of STD Awareness Month in April, focused largely on attitudes toward hepatitis. Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which makes vaccines for hepatitis A and B, funded the survey.

"Certainly, we are well aware that Glaxo is a manufacturer, but not the only manufacturer of hepatitis vaccines. But this issue of hepatitis A and B as sexually transmitted diseases and ones that are vaccine preventable is a very important one," Allen said.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently funding ASHA to research hepatitis in men who have sex with men.

While many cases of hepatitis are not a serious threat to health, the disease can sometimes become chronic and may lead to liver failure and death. In many cases, though, viral hepatitis is a "self-resolving" illness, according to ASHA.

Hepatitis A, B and C are the most common types of the disease and can all be sexually transmitted to various degrees. Only A and B, however, have vaccines. The A and B strains cause more than 170,000 infections and 5,000 deaths in the United States annually.

Yet those who were surveyed showed that their knowledge about hepatitis was even more limited than that for other STDs, including HIV and herpes.

More than half (57 percent) did not know that hepatitis A can be sexually transmitted, while 44 percent did not realize hepatitis B could be transmitted this way. Almost everybody (97 percent) knew that HIV can be sexually transmitted.

"People don't understand hepatitis," Allen said. "It's easy to get confused about, easy to confuse the tests and the differences between hepatitis A, B and C."

The discrepancy is worrying because hepatitis B can be 100 times more contagious than HIV and is more common. One in 20 people will become infected with hepatitis B sometime during their life, but many will not know it because there are often no symptoms.

More than half (55 percent) of those surveyed did not know that hepatitis A can be prevented with a vaccine; 42 percent didn't know that there is a vaccine for hepatitis B. More than half (60 percent) had not been vaccinated or did not know whether they had been vaccinated against the viruses.

Two out of three of the people surveyed had some risk for infection and yet about 90 percent said their health-care provider had never recommended vaccination.

Americans are also not talking about STDs. In this survey, 93 percent of the respondents said their current or most recent partner didn't have an STD, yet one-third had never discussed the subject with their partner. Slightly more than half (53 percent) said their partner had been tested. Less than half said they had spoken to their health-care providers about STDs.

"The current public health issues of the 21st century are behaviorally related. We're into a lot of individual choices," Allen said. "The issue is not just one of sexual health. It's an issue that goes more broadly... How do we help create the environment within our country where people want to make and are supported to make healthful choices? ... How do we create an environment in which our young people feel supported to delay initiation of sexual contact or to be sexually active in a responsible manner?"

More information

ASHA has information on sexually transmitted diseases and, specifically, on hepatitis.

(SOURCES: James Allen, M.D., president and CEO, American Social Health Association, and former U.S. assistant surgeon general, Research Triangle Park, N.C.; April 2004 ASHA survey)

Copyright © 2004 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.