Correlation Found: Reduced Condom Use Among Young People Linked to Increased STI Rates

In recent years, some experts have pointed to an increase in rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among younger groups. Research also points to a general increase in this factor in society as a whole, however, among individuals aged 15 to 24, it was possible to notice a direct relationship between this increase and the abandonment of condom use. One of the infections that showed one of the highest growth since 2019, for example, was syphilis, which had an occurrence rate of 59.1 cases per 100 thousand, and which evolved to 78.5 in 2021, according to the Ministry of Health.

Fernando Bellissimo Rodrigues, infectious disease specialist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto at the University of São Paulo (FMRP), explains that the reasons for this growth are multifactorial, that is, there is no single factor that can explain the increase in these data. 

Causes 

Among the different factors related to this increase, he highlights the proliferation of social networks and virtual interactions among young people. “With these mechanisms, the probability of finding partners with the same affinities as you increases. 30 years ago, a person who wanted to have sexual relations with another had to go out and, at random, find a person compatible with those desires. Today this has become easier with the issue of social networks”, points out the doctor. 

Thus, Bellissimo says that this factor may be contributing to the increase in the number of partners among individuals — also causing an increase in the probability that one of these partners has a pathogen, directly affecting the frequency of transmission. 

Furthermore, reducing the use of condoms stands out as one of the biggest problems within this debate. “ It is clear from several studies, surveys and questionnaires carried out in different populations around the world that young people today use condoms less frequently than young people ten, 15 and 20 years ago”, adds the expert. Thus , with the advent of AIDS in the 1980s, the use of condoms became very common in the 1980s and 1990s. However, from 1996 onwards, with the emergence of antiretroviral therapy — which transformed the history of HIV infection , making it no longer eminently fatal, becoming a treatable chronic infection —, the fear of STIs became less and led to a reduction in the use of condoms. 

HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis ( HIV PrEP ), a new method of preventing HIV infection, which, according to Bellissimo, should be taken in conjunction with condoms to prevent infection, has been used to replace the use of condoms . Thus, countless young people use medication to avoid contracting this infection, but end up contracting others, such as syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, papillomavirus (HPV) and others. 

Preventive measures 

Preventive measures can be adopted to avoid STIs. Among them, the teacher highlights the importance of taking sexual education to schools, making it necessary to include essential information in the student curriculum so that children and pre-teens can understand the importance of the topic before starting their sexual lives. 

Bellissimo assesses, therefore, that public authorities play a central role in promoting sexual education in both public and private schools and also in promoting campaigns that encourage the use of condoms. “These are some of the points that need to be broadly addressed to contain and prevent these diseases. The provision of treatment services is also extremely important, because people, while they are not receiving treatment, can transmit STIs, therefore, the provision of diagnosis and treatment by the Unified Health System (SUS) is essential”, adds the specialist. 

Vaccination is another essential point in this debate; Currently, in the SUS, there are at least two STIs that are vaccine-preventable: hepatitis B and HPV infection — provided free of charge to the population. HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, when used correctly, is also a major contributor to prevention and, finally, the use of condoms stands out, which are a widely effective measure against all infections. 

Another essential point for understanding the topic is identifying the symptoms of STIs. Thus, it is noted that they are presented differently in each of the pathogens, and it is common to observe the presence of burning during urination, fever, the appearance of wounds and warts in the genital region and the appearance of bumps in the inguinal region. Furthermore, in some cases, infections remain silent for years — as happens with hepatitis B and HIV.