Private MD News

STD testing yes, vaccines no?

Category: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Though there was a recent national push to encourage young people to get an STD test, researchers question whether or not college-aged students would accept an STD vaccine if it were made available.

While there has been ample news about scientists and genetics working on cures and better treatments for certain STDs, such as AIDS and gonorrhea, there has been less news about vaccines for such conditions.

In a University of Missouri study, it was found that students who felt "invulnerable or invincible" were less likely to embrace an HIV vaccine.

"[T]his study is unique in that it considers the role of invulnerability in students' health-protective or preventative behaviors," said Russell Ravert, assistant professor in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences.

The professor measured two invulnerability favors in the study: danger and psychological. He found that students who felt psychological invulnerability, which means they weren't concerned about the opinions of others, were more likely to accept a vaccine.

It appears that though STD testing has become the norm in some areas of the country, some young people still may thing they are immune to certain diseases.