According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention , sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have hit record-high numbers nationally, with the amountof diagnoses of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis rising significantly compared to last year’s data.

Counties within Pennsylvania, some close as an hour away from Waynesburg University, have been labeled “hot-spots” for STDs, including the HIV virus, according to CNN. In Beaver County alone,the number of people with HIV have tripled in the last year.

Jennifer Dean, nurse director of Student Health Services, contributes the spike tothelack of condom use and improved long-term medical care for those with HIV.

“With all of the new HIV drugs there seems to be less of a scare,” Dean said. “As a result of that they’re finding that less people are using condoms. It’s not the fact that people are having more sex, it’s that less people are using condoms.”

Commonly, people correlate a rise in STDs with increased promiscuity among young people, but, according to Dean, that isn’t the case.

“From what I have read the studies have said that the rates of sex are down but the rates of STDs are up,” Dean said.

In actuality, the staggering rise in the number of STDs can be partly contributed to the current opioid epidemic, which, according to Dean, leaves those addicted with more of a “lack of discretion” about using protection or receiving regular testing.

Young Americans-ages15 through 24 – seem to bethemost impacted by STD’s, making up half of the total 20 million STD cases that are reported annually within the country, according to the CDC.

For young people, Dean’s STD prevention recommendations are straightforward.

“We always preach abstinence as the best way,” Dean said. “We do recommend you protect yourself through condoms.”

Students enrolled in college typically fall within that 9-year age-range, though Dean says that students “rarely” tend to come to the health services office for a STD-related issue.

“I think they don’t want anyone to know on campus,” Dean said. “I think they try to find where they need to on their own online.”

The health services office act as a “liaison” for students with STDs, referring them to health clinics in Fayette County and within the Greene County area.

Dean refers those few students who come in with an STD to the appropriate place for them and their particular issue.

“Not that we’ve never had a student come in, but, with how high the rates are versus how many students we see its pretty low,” Dean said. “But, if they would come to us, we can get them to where they need to go. It’s all confidential, we don’t tell a soul.”

The 2018 annual Health Fair, hosted on-campus by nursing students and faculty, featured the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force and free STD testing provided by the Department of Health. Alsothis Fall semester,nursing students are doing on-campus wellness programs focused on informing students about STDs and prevention.

To reduce the amount of STDs reported on-campus,and thus nationwide, Dean advises students to test them selves and come to the health office if any symptoms arise.

“It’s best to be safe, get tested and know… I always tell people no matter what it is ‘It is what is and now you just know and you can do something about it,’” Dean said.