STDs in the Older Generations

When we think of the rise in the number of those who contract sexually transmitted diseases, we may think of the oversexed teenagers we see roaming the food courts at the malls, or the single, college-going 20-somethings flirting mercilessly at the hippest clubs in town. Rarely, do we ever visit our grandmothers and grandfathers for the weekly Sunday pot roast dinner and think of sexually transmitted diseases. Heck, my blessed grandmother had sixteen children in her lifetime and I still choose to believe it was through immaculate conception or some strange and rare pregnant-without-sex disease. The public rarely associates rising STDs with older generations, but perhaps that may soon change.

Researchers from England’s West Midlands Health Protection Agency recently published an online study in the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal that documents the steady rise of sexually transmitted diseases in those aged 45 or older. In less than 10 years, from 1996 to 2003, the rate of STDs (including gonorrhea, genital warts, genital herpes, syphilis and chlamydia) in this older population had more than doubled, increasing over 125%. In 1996, there were 344 STD cases reported, and that number grew to 780 cases by 2003. One of the lead authors of the study, Dr. Babatunde Olowokure, feels that this rate might even be higher as he states, “These observations are based on a small proportion of people who actually attend clinics.” He feels that due to the negative association with STDs, that some in the older generations might avoid visiting the clinic altogether.

While reports from the U.S. based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a steady rate of infection amongst those who are aged 55 or older, many physicians feel that these figures are wrong. One U.S. physician, Dr. Sharon Lee, says, “Our rates of syphilis and chlamydia are up across all ages.” What could cause this rise in cases of sexually transmitted diseases in this population sector? Some researchers have concluded that divorces, drugs like Viagra and finding partners online may contribute to the increase of STDs. Others feel that the older generation could be deprived of up-to-date sexual education. For example, many women aged 50 and above think that once they have gone through menopause, practicing safe sex with condoms is not a necessary precaution, especially if they have known their partner for years. Unlike teenagers, post-menopausal women and older men do not worry about getting pregnant, so practicing safe sex is not as dire as it might be with a 14 year old teenager.

Seventy-four year old Janet Fowler could be the poster child for this wrong type of thinking. She is one of the founders of HIV Wisdom for Older Women. After being married for 24 years and then divorcing, she began a sexual relationship with a man she had known virtually her entire life. Not worrying about pregnancy or caring much about STDs, she chose not to practice safe sex. As she says, “If you know for a fact that you can’t become pregnant and you don’t know anything about sexually transmitted diseases, why would you use a condom?” A few years later, she found out she was HIV-positive and she had only been with two sexual partners her entire life (her husband and the man she dated after her divorce).

While there is much discussion and funding given to teaching the younger generations about safe sex, there obviously needs to be some consideration given to offering older generations the same sexual education. As I mentioned earlier, many people in the younger generations make the assumption that those who are older do not even engage in sex, which obviously could not be further from the truth. Thus, until sexual education is offered to those of older generations, it may be up to the younger generations to fill the gaps in sexual education for their parents and grandparents.