Did you
Know?
Condoms
should be
stored in cool
places like
your sock
drawer, not
in your
wallet!
©
Germ free is the way to be.
Sex is discussed everywhere. Sex is in
the media, television, music, books, and
billboards.
It is often incorporated into
people’s topics of discussion and gossip,
including STD’s, birth control, pregnancies,
dating, relationships, and even can stem off
into important political issues. Since having sex
can result in icky diseases, this week we are
discussing the most common STD and what
you can do to help prevent it.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE
MOST COMMON STD IS?
Currently, the most common STD is the
human papilloma virus. You might know it as
its abbreviated form…HPV.
Each year
approximately 5 ½ million people are
diagnosed
with this virus.
It
increases the risk of
cancer
for
the
cervix, penis, and
anus. The best
way to protect
yourself from
contracting
this
disease is to have you or
your partner wear a latex condom
and use it properly. HPV is transmitted
through skin to skin contact, so even if a
condom is worn, it can still be transmitted
through the Mons pubis and genital region
that is not protected. If choosing to have sex,
be selective with your partner. Most people
who contract HPV don’t realize they have it
because there are very few symptoms for all
the strains of the virus.
SHOULD
I
GET
THE
HPV
VACCINE?
By now, hopefully you have heard of
the new HPV vaccine that has been released
under the pharmaceutical company Merck. It’s
called Gardasil™. HPV, as mentioned before is
the most common STD. There are 40 different
strands, most
of which go
away on their
own
within
two
years.
However,
some strands
can turn into
pre-cancerous
cells
for
cervical cancer
and can even
lead to cervical cancer. Getting the vaccine
helps to reduce the risk of contracting cervical
cancer. The vaccine can be issued to females
from age 11 to 26. Females who are sexually
active can benefit from the vaccine as well,
though it is ideal to get the vaccine before
becoming sexually active. Currently, research
anticipates the vaccine will last a long time but
most likely a booster shot will be necessary.
The cost of the vaccine is approximately $375.
($125 for each shot…3 shots.) Most large
insurance companies pay for the vaccine, few
do not. Side effects of the vaccine are mostly
minor and include soreness at the injection
site and in some cases have resulted in
fainting. The vaccine doesn’t help to prevent
all strands of the virus or all types of cervical
cancer. Getting the vaccine is not a substitute
for going to your doctor. Be sure to continue
seeing your gynecologist regularly for checkups.
Washing your Hands helps
the first line of defense against illnesses. You
can see how this simple task will help to
prevent illnesses more than you
would think!
By: Amy Allen
Everyone knows how it goes, it’s the
middle of September and before you know it
everyone will rush to the doctor to get a flu
vaccination or request antibiotics from the
doctor to fix their symptoms. (Even though
that won’t help the flu, antibiotics don’t help
viruses…viruses just have to run their course.)
What are some ways in which you can help
your immune system in order to lower your
chances of contracting the flu you ask? Hand
washing is by far the easiest and best way to
help prevent germ from spreading. Germs on
the hands come from everywhere, doorknobs,
keyboards, railings, car doors, and numerous
other places.
Just think.
Before you ate that
deliciously tasty sandwich hours before you
touched numerous surfaces that contain
germs. You used the bathroom earlier and
washed your hands but when you left you
used the door with your clean hands and not
everyone washed theirs. Then you went into
the computer lab and used the keyboard and
mouse to type things where the person before
you was sick and sneezed all over their hands!
You go into the office to answer your phone
but just before, Suzie spoke on the phone for
two hours and she is sick, coughing, sneezing,
and drooling on the phone! That you are
holding?! Then you go down to eat your
sandwich
and
you
don’t wash
your hands?
AHHHHH!
Washing
your hands is
prevent illnesses since there are so many
germs carried on the hands! When washing
your hands be sure to use warm water and
wash for thirty seconds (Happy Birthday two
times). Don’t forget to wash underneath your
fingernails too. Rinse and then thoroughly dry
your hands. Wet hands carry more germs than
dry hands so be sure to dry your hands to help
keep them cleaner, longer.
When should you wash your
hands?
When do
we wash
our hands?
~ Before eating and cooking
~ After using the bathroom
~After cleaning the house
~ After petting an animal
~ Before you apply make-up
AAACHOOOOOO! What kind
of sneezing style are you?
it. The proper thing to do and most polite and
appropriate way to sneeze is into a tissue that
is then carefully regarded into the trash can
followed by a thorough hand washing. What
do you do when there is no tissue available
Oh no. Whether it’s the summer and
everyone is suffering from allergies or the
winter months when everyone is ill, you can’t
help but sneeze. Everyone has to sneeze, you
get that tickle in your nose and you must
alleviate it. Some people cleaner. Some
people just sneeze into the air and get all their
germs everywhere.
Other people try to be polite and
sneeze into their hand which is just as bad if
not worse. (We stressed the importance of
hand washing in the last article.) People
sneeze into their hands to cover their mouths
and then continue typing on the computer or
writing with their pen, opening doors with
their hands, or introducing themselves to new
people. AHHHH! I get sick just thinking about
you ask? That’s EASY.
When there are no tissues available and you
feel that tickle come along you sneeze into the
crook of your arm. Sneezing here traps the
germs on the sleeve of you shirt where germs
aren’t as easily absorbed and your arm sleeve
doesn’t really
come into
contact with
anyone. Better
to sneeze here
than in the air
or on your
hand. So
remember the
next time you
need to sneeze:
A.) Get a tissue or
B.) Sneeze in the crook of your arm.
These small tips will help you to stay healthy
this
upcoming
cold
season.

SUPER GERMS! Should I wash my hands with antibacterial soap?
Super germs don’t come out of the blue. People are the ones that create them through their
obsessive use of antibacterial products such as soaps, cleaners, and dish detergent. If you expose
germs to repeated use of antibiotics, they genetically mutate into more resistant strains which are
harder to treat. Plain soap and water are designed to loosen the dirt and germs from your skin while
antibacterial soap is designed to kill. Therefore, the use of
antibacterial products forces the germs to adapt in order to
survive.
As a result they become stronger and more
dangerous. In addition to this, many studies have concluded
that antibacterial soaps do not even clean better than regular
plain soap and water. In fact, after using
antibacterial soap, one hour later people
have the same amount of germs and
microbes on their hand as
someone who used regular soap. Many
bacteria are benign and help keep the
equilibrium of bad germs and benign germs.
When we use antibacterial soap, we are
killing both germs, which ultimately are
causing problems. Soon, it will be difficult to
create antibiotics to treat illnesses. More importantly than
this, antibacterial soaps contain antibiotics in them
themselves. Selling them over the counter constitutes an increasing threat to our health and
environment. Just wash your hands with plain soap and water. In the long run it will help us all!
Name of
Site
Center of
Disease
Control
Centers of
Disease
Control
Tree
Hugging
Family
Kid’s Health
Associated
Content
∞
URL:
General Content
Audience
Rating
http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFa
ct-HPV.htm
HPV Fact Sheets and
Helpful Info
Parents and their Kids
****
http://www.cdc.gov/cleanhands/
Hand Hygiene
Everyone
***
http://www.treehuggingfamily.com/a
re-we-so-clean-that-were-breedingsuper-germs/
http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/ger
ms.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/
article/271764/8_tips_to_get_rid_of_
germs.html
Super Germs
Parents
***
Germs in General
Kids
****
Tips to Keep your
home cleaner from
germs
Parents
***