Slaying the myths and stigmas of sexual disease

By Sarah Woods

THERE is a certain stigma attached to visiting a sexually transmitted infections clinic. When I arrived at the clinic at West Middlesex Hospital to meet the health advisors for this interview I was faced with an incredible urge to shout out 'It's not what you think' whilst loudly stating to the receptionists that I was there to meet someone and attempting to look as nonchalant as possible.

However, clinic staff and the powers that be are keen to dispel the myth that there is anything to be embarrassed about whilst working hard to remove the stigma.

It is incredibly important to get checked up if there is any possibility that you may have a sexually transmitted infection because many are highly infectious and, if left untreated, some can cause serious and permanent damage.

One common myth is that you have to be sleeping around to catch an STI, but anyone who is sexually active can catch an infection, even people who have been with the same partner for a long time can suddenly discover one that has lain dormant for years.

Although it is fair to say that the more partners you have the greater your chances of acquiring an STI.

Some infections can remain without symptoms for very long periods of time and there could be a number of reasons why someone might suspect they have an STI.

Sexual health is being publicised more and more within the media, government and schools and the clinic at West Mid has seen a huge increase in patients for all types of infections recently.

There are mixed reports as to why this is and Simon Needs, senior health advisor at West Mid sexual health clinic, says: "Diagnoses of STIs have increased drastically, especially chlamydia, but everything has increased.

"It's a bit of a chicken and egg thing, we don't know if this is due to more publicity or whether there are more infections. The numbers have increased but we have no extra funding."

Tests are carried out at the clinic for all sexual diseases and those who are tested for one infection are urged to be tested for all others.

Reports in the press have drummed into readers that chlamydia, the most common bacterial infection, could lead to infertility in women if left untreated; recent evidence has now shown that this is also a possibility in men.

There is also testing in place for what is known as more minor STIs such as herpes, genital warts, gonorrhoea and thrush.

Simon tells me that herpes 'gets everyone on edge.' "They make a big thing about herpes, they think it is going to destroy their lives. We try to tell people that actually this is very common, it may be painful but 50 per cent of people only ever have one attack and it is not going to give them cancer or anything."

The same goes for genital warts, the virus can lay dormant for ever but sufferers may never face more than one attack, although it is important to get these checked out.

There is a lot of misunderstanding amongst patients as Annette Nienhaus, specialist nurse practitioner, tells me; "Men think they have got something off a woman but they don't realise it could have lain dormant for ages and they could have passed it on themselves.

"Some girls say, 'I don't think I could have got it from him because he is very clean and very nice, I've known him a long time'. There are lots of myths about how to protect yourself. A number of women from different countries bathe in Dettol because they think it is clean but this can cause and irritate infections.

"Some people say that they lubricate before their boyfriend puts a condom on but this is known to cause them to split more easily.

"Or they say my friend told me if you are on the pill you can't catch it.

"People are quite clued up but it is superficial knowledge. If there is increased knowledge it only scratches the surface. People should not be scared to ask how to do it."

A common impulse is for people to rush to the internet as soon as they find something untoward and when I ask Simon what he thinks of this he shakes his head: "You get a lot of misinformation on the internet and people look things up and think they've got everything. We have to calm them down when they get here."

Aids is obviously a big issue and something that sufferers may have thought of as a death sentence is far more treatable now.

Simon says: "Breaking the news about HIV is very difficult. No two people are the same, we have to tell them very directly and see how they react.

"People are in so many different circumstances; they may be asylum seekers, been raped, been in a relationship and don't know if they've passed it on. A lot of people will immediately ask 'how long have I got to live'."

High risk groups are asylum seekers from Africa, Asia, eastern Europe and parts of Latin America, intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men.

There are still a large number of people in the area who are left undiagnosed with HIV, which is why it is so important for people to get tested.

One huge problem is asylum seekers who are diagnosed and then immediately misplaced. Simon says: "They are very quickly dispersed, so we give them a result and they disappear, so we don't know where they are, they are lost in the system.

"There should be some kind of project where people can stay in the area for a certain amount of time under exceptional circumstances."

Men's magazines have recently been lamented for promoting sex but not how to deal with STIs and Simon agrees that more should be done to promote sexual health.

The number of patients who have been sexually assaulted, both men and women, is on the rise and again, it is not known whether this is because there is an increase in assaults or if more people are keener to seek help.

The clinic holds an under 18s service, Bewize, two days a week and a youth worker goes out into schools to educate the pupils. She also reaches out to those who are excluded from school and a new project is starting with Feltham Young Offenders and local army barracks.

Annette says: "It is all about making people feel comfortable with their body, this is part of their body and they shouldn't be hiding it away.

"We need sex education to change behaviour."