yet another std/sti question/poll

[JoePlumber 112]

Ok, that title is misleading, as this is not a post to claim doom and gloom, but rather to say that casual polling aside, there are reliable statistics for STD detection etc. I found this data from 2002 (not really recent, but probably not far off the mark ). I added the bold myself.

 

"The Youth in Canada study of 2.1 million young people released Wednesday shows that while few teenagers between 15 and 19 have AIDS, young women in this age group have the highest rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia in the country: 80 cases of gonorrhea per 100,000 in 1999; 1,139 cases of chlamydia per 100,000. "The incidence tends to be highest in young women, but it's very low in age groups over 25," said Colin Lindsay, the primary author of the study. For young men, the incidence of the diseases was lower -- 32 cases of gonorrhea per 100,000; 187 cases of chlamydia per 100,000"

 

The only problem with the stats I just quoted, is that it doesn't give a timeframe.. such as 'per year' or something. Also, since 'rates' often don't change very much from year to year, this also means it's not spreading wildly (i.e. each infected person is not infecting 4 more or anything).

 

As for the 'poor' response to this poll.. I think this topic scares the living crap out of many many people, who would rather hide their heads in the sand. I know it scares me, but my sense of responsibility is greater.

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

.... casual polling aside, there are reliable statistics for STD detection etc. ....

 

The study you quote would be for the relatively reckless general population, and not directly applicable to the more informed sub-population (if you will) of professional escorts and their clients. This sub-population (a.k.a. "us") is what dummpy is really interested in, I think?

[JoePlumber 112]

The study you quote would be for the relatively reckless general population, and not directly applicable to the more informed sub-population (if you will) of professional escorts and their clients. This sub-population (a.k.a. "us") is what dummpy is really interested in, I think?

 

Show me some data that shows our 'more informed' sub-population has different numbers? This poll on cerb, has so many statistical flaws, the results are nothing more than conversation fodder. The study quoted (and I admit was the fastest that google pulled up) gave numbers only for teenagers, which the study said had larger infection rates than older groups. Seeing as a goodly number of new escorts are 18 or 19.. they would fall into this category.

 

I'm not trying to be a downer on the thread, I'm just saying that congratulating ourselves for being 'more informed' is hiding behind pseudo-science, and not helpful.

 

From here: http://www.sexualityandu.ca/media-room/fact-sheets-1.aspx

 

"In 2003, 854,817 people aged 15-49 who have ever had sexual intercourse reported ever being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection"

 

If we assume about 25 million people in the 15-29 range, that's about 1 in 26 people. With 90 people responding to the thread, 2 or 3 should have said 'yes.. had one.. got it fixed'.

 

From here: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/std-mts/stdcases-casmts/cases-cas-08-eng.php

 

For Ontario, general population the rates for Chlamydia were about 200/100,000. That would make for about 2000 people out of the 1 million greater Ottawa residents. Is that a lot? I don't know. But it's a real number to make decisions on, not a feel good poll number.

[Kathryn Bardot 99339]

The study quoted (and I admit was the fastest that google pulled up) gave numbers only for teenagers, which the study said had larger infection rates than older groups. Seeing as a goodly number of new escorts are 18 or 19.. they would fall into this category.

 

I'm not trying to be a downer on the thread, I'm just saying that congratulating ourselves for being 'more informed' is hiding behind pseudo-science, and not helpful.

 

I'm not surprised teenagers have a higher infection rate - my high school sex ed class consisted of how to put a condom on a banana, and slideshows of diseased genitals (and scare tactics definitely had minimal impact on my classmates, other than to instill a false sense of security, i.e., no visible signs = good to go..).

 

I obviously can't speak for all of the SPs here, but I pride myself on being educated about these things because I view it as being part of my job. And I do think that we should pride ourselves on being mature and more informed about sex - it doesn't mean we're "hiding behind it" and thinking it's okay to bareback because of the result of an online poll.. We can applaud the majority of our group who take the time to educate both themselves and their peers, without dropping the ball from that point forward - it's not "No need to worry, because we've done a good job so far," but rather, "Hey, we've done a good job and let's keep it up."

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Show me some data that shows our 'more informed' sub-population has different numbers? This poll on cerb, has so many statistical flaws, the results are nothing more than conversation fodder. ....

 

I'm not trying to be a downer on the thread, I'm just saying that congratulating ourselves for being 'more informed' is hiding behind pseudo-science, and not helpful. ....

 

I think this topic scares the living crap out of many many people, who would rather hide their heads in the sand. I know it scares me, but my sense of responsibility is greater.

 

I'm not the one claiming to have "real numbers" (or any numbers). You said that there was only one flaw in your statistics. I simply pointed out an obvious second flaw -- that professionals in a given field of endeavour may, on the average, be more knowledgeable or behave differently than does the general population. This reservation is based on my own common sense; ymmv. (The Cerb ladies I have met definitely do seem to behave differently than the general population in a number of other very interesting ways!)

 

And yes, this poll (like all other polls here) is precisely as you say -- an invitation to conversation. I see no one proclaiming it to be "scientific" in the first place -- so bashing it as "hiding behind pseudo-science" is not entirely fair, I think.

 

Nor do I see how anyone here is hiding from anything at all?? As I pointed out before, these STD polls have in fact received much higher-than-average voting-interest from the members -- so in that respect at least, they do not really seem to me to be "hiding their heads in the sand".

 

So ... I guess I'm sticking to my (usual) role of (as you say) being "not helpful"!

 

Cheers and Stay Safe, Wrinkled

[Andee 220524]

I am surprised by the number of men I meet in my personal life as opposed to work, in my age range (40 to 50) who were perhaps in one or two relationships in the last 20 years who have never wore a condom and find it strange that I insist, not only to keep myself safe but them as well considering what I do for a living.

 

I hear stories about these men picking up women in bars or dating sites and never practicing safe sex. With all the education and information today about STDs and Aids, it makes me wonder why they think they are immune.

 

As far as clients go, I also find I have more mature clients who prefer hand jobs or BBBJ to intercourse because they either don't like condoms or have never used them and don't want to.

 

When I was a teenager, and in my early 20s, the only thing we had to worry about were STDs that could be treated with penicillian and then herpes came along and AIDS after that.

 

It makes me shudder to think the numbers of middle-aged people who are putting themselves at risk unnecessarily.

 

I find younger people are conscientious about using condoms. As as SP, I rarely have a younger client in their 20s ask for BBBJ.

 

I believe it is older people who are taking the risks, not younger people (except for perhaps teenagers).

[Annessa 22743]

I had an outcall once with a client in his late 40s. he was very new to the hobby and insisted on using his own brand of condoms which he supplied. he had some trouble putting on the condom at one point and after a rather mundane session of FS where he didn't even finish he pulled out only to realize the condom was ripped.

 

His reaction will always be burned in my head.

 

he started freaking out and hugging a pillow on the bed. rocking back and forth and begging me to promise him I was clean....while swearing to himself saying "shit! shit! what were you thinking, you idiot!!"

 

I told him my ritual of often testing and if he wanted to feel sure about my claims, he was a few blocks away from the clinic and to go in the morning. This was the guys who said "I'll never go to one of those places again! do you know how it feels when they put that swab up your...your....member??"

 

I said "fine then go to your trusted family doctor". he said " HELL NO!! He'll tell my wife!!" he was almost crying at this point

 

I got dressed and took my money and left him rocking like a child in his hotel room....I tried to comfort him, but in the end I realized I'm nobody's therapist. I had never been so insulted in my life. I'm an SP so therefore I'm a STi-carrying threat??

 

In the end, every client is responsible for their own health. I got myself tested the next day. I doubt he did. He tried to call me afterwards ( about a week later) and it took a lot out of me not to answer the phone.

[caveman 147]

Wow, that sounds like someone who needs to learn to chill out. Condoms rip and don't always stay in place, which anyone who's used them a few times should already know.

 

If he's that freaked out about catching something, he shouldn't be out playing, whether it's with an SP or anyone else. The only completely sure-fire way to avoid an STD is to go with the righty/Lubriderm duo... :-)

 

I guess some people just can't deal with it when they're forced to pull their heads up out of the sand.

[PistolPete 61421]

Well I did not rock back and forth and held a pillow, and I never had a condom rip on me over my years.

 

But, I'll just add a little funny story, I was having a great time with a provider, she said she wanted me to perform greek, I say , sure lets do it.

 

After a good session of in and outs:bddog:, I felt something different..yes I was now without condom, and the condom was you know where:butt:

 

We both laughed our heads off, she took a while to get it out, and we carried on to more great sex,no pillows,no rocking back and forth.

 

She gets checked regular, as I do as well, Annessa this appointment will always be burned in my head as well, from the aspect it's okay, I was not going to die, sure it alarmed us both, but we still had a great laugh.