Study: STI Risks on Spring Break

College students can usually expect to return from their spring break destination with a crisp tan, cheap souvenirs, and blurry memories.

But spring breakers are also “bringing back souvenirs they didn’t intend to”—sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to Deborah J. Mathis, the Administrative Director for Women’s Health at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mathis says that college students are uninformed about STIs and that university health providers should do more outreach and keep spring breakers informed of the risks and symptoms of STIs.

Besides just being uninformed, the Journal of American College Health estimates that during spring break the average male has 18 drinks a day while the average female has 10.

The spring break atmosphere of excessive drinking leads not just to increased incidents of casual sex but also to a decrease in condom use, according to a University of Wisconsin-Stout study.

David S. Rosenthal ’59, the director of Harvard’s University Health Services (UHS), said that UHS keeps statistics by month but that they have never been struck that there is any sort of increase in STI cases after Harvard’s spring break.

“If anything,” Rosenthal joked, “Harvard students come back with gastrological problems because of the food from their exotic destinations.”

However, Rosenthal reiterated that although there is no noticeable jump in the number of STIs reported after spring break, Harvard is still a place where these infections exist.

Rosenthal says that throughout the year there is a “steady level of chlamydia running though campus” and that chlamydia can be asymptomatic, so many students who are infected do not even know they are carrying the bacteria.

He encouraged concerned students to make an appointment with UHS to get tested for STIs and to take advantage of the free contraceptives and information in the UHS Center for Wellness and Health Communication.

When Mathis was asked to speculate on why students have higher incidents of STIs after spring break, she responded, “Maybe our folks travel more?”

Alejandro L. Acevedo ’05 recounted his trip to Jamaica last spring break.

“I was risky in a lot of situations but it’s important to be smart and not be foolish with your actions,” Acevedo said.

He also added that STIs aren’t something he openly talks about with his friends.

But, he said, when he’s in Puerto Rico for this year’s spring break he will be sure to be extra careful.