Let's talk about something near and dear to my heart - STDs! In case it hasn't already been painfully obvious, I care a lot about sexually transmitted diseases (or sexually transmitted infections if you want to emphasize the fact that they're often asymptomatic). They're biologically and socially fascinating to me. To most, though, the concept of STDs can be pretty scary. The number of terrified young people I've heard at social gatherings worrying about their status - whether they're referring to HIV or another STD - is far too high.
I recently listened to a podcast on adolescent sexual health in The Gambia, and it reminded me of a few studies I've read in the past year that used sexual networks. Basically, this is a specific kind of social network based on sexual contacts. With enough interviewing and little enough lying, it's possible to map out a community by asking people about their sexual partners. Sexual networks can be used to track down the source or determine the extent of an epidemic, but I believe they could also be used to better understand community dynamics.
Skirt: Thrifted
Shoes: Dr. Martens
The possible use of sexual networks in understanding adolescent community dynamics is just as, if not more, interesting to me. In my limited experience in public health I have yet to see determining a sexual network as part of a health prevention approach, but I think that on the community level it would be quite helpful. In many STD-prevention campaigns I've seen, like one that attempts to reduce HIV and HSV-2 incidence among communities of adolescents in rural South Africa,2 information regarding number of sexual partners within a specific time period, age at sexual debut, and engagement in transactional sex - sex in exchange for food, money, or other commodities - is gathered. In a campaign aimed at reducing incidence of a disease or of a particular behavior, such as transactional sex, within a defined community, the creation of a sexual network would be helpful. Not only would information that is already being gathered still be gathered (instances of transactional sex, incidence of STDs) but also patterns may begin to appear. Perhaps there is a group of individuals frequently transmitting STDs or frequently engaging in transactional sex. If there is, more targeted methods could be used to resolve issues, like approaching groups encouraging others to engage in sex for money. I may be thinking on too individual a level for public health, but it seems to me that both a population-wide approach combined with a more targeted approach would provided the greatest chance at eliminating diseases and harmful behaviors.
1. Wilken JA, Ried C, Rickett P, et al. Occupational HIV Transmission Among Male Adult Film Performers — Multiple States, 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:110–114. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6505a3
2. Jewkes, R., et al. "Impact of Stepping Stones on Incidence of Hiv and Hsv-2 and Sexual Behaviour in Rural South Africa: Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial." BMJ 337 (2008): a506. Print.
* photo taken by my SO
FACT OF THE DAY!
There's a protein called the sonic hedgehog. Scientists are apparently also giant nerds and fans of the fastest blue spiny mammal, For those unfamiliar, Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game character from the Sonic the Hedgehog SEGA franchise. The sonic hedgehog protein is involved in the patterning of the central nervous system during development. It can be inhibited by a molecule known as robotnikinin, named after Sonic's villain/nemesis Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.
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