Taking a Stand: On Teaching the Epidemiology of Sexually Transmitted Infections

Sexually transmitted infections affect over 15 million Americans per year. Teenagers and young adults are disproportionately affected by a sexually transmitted disease and the lack of protective resources to avoid exposure. Because many infections produce no immediate, visible, or indisposing outcomes, persons possessing an infection may be unaware of their infectious status, and, subsequently, may—quite unknowingly—pass the infectious agent on to others. The activity described in this paper demonstrates the epidemiological processes that contribute to infection. Participants learn how sexually transmitted infections (bacterial, viral, and ectoparasitic) can be transmitted within a sexual network from only one infected individual.