According to every single headline I’ve seen this morning, it seems that there is an outbreak of something called the Swine Flu. I don’t really know what it is (or what pigs have against us…besides the fact that we only like them for their fatty and delicious goodness), but my finger started hurting last night and I can only assume I have caught it.

Schools and businesses are being closed because of this sitch, and people from NY to Chicago are walking around town with SARS masks on.

But while the rest of the world is freaking out, I couldn’t be happier.

Seriously, schools and businesses are closing? Holla back, y’all. This swine flu is the perfect excuse for just about anything this week and I plan to milk it for all it’s worth:

“Sorry, teach, can’t make it to class today. Wouldn’t wanna catch the swine flu!”

“I could go to the gym. Or I could stay home and not take any risks catching the swine flu off that Stairmaster.”

“I hear binge drinking is GREAT for protecting myself against the swine flu.”

“No, you should really come home with me. My bed (and va jay jay) is the safest place to be right now.”

This is the best news I’ve heard since I found out Ugly Betty was coming back for another season. I’m not leaving the house all week; I have to do whatever I can to stay safe. So than you, Miss Piggy and friends. And stay safe out there, people.

Do you have that burning, itching, inflamed, oozey feeling south of the border? Maybe you don’t see or feel anything obvious but you just have that nagging suspicion that last week’s man-whore frat-guy gave you more than his number. Either way, it’s time you got checked out.

Even if you don’t suspect any foul play but just want to be on the safe side, you should set up an appointment. Not sure where to start? Here’s everything you need to know before you put on the paper gown.

Where to Go: Taking that first step can be a little scary. Even just trying to find a testing sight can seem overwhelming, not to mention difficult. Sometimes religious activists set up websites mimicking health facilities in order to preach their message. But lucky for you, the Center for Disease Control and Planned Parenthood are the only websites you’ll need on your quest for sexual health. Plug in your zip code or state and watch as your screen gets flooded with every test site in a ten mile radius. The CDC also has a great feature that tells you who offers free testing.

What you should know before you go: Know the difference between “anonymous” and “confidential” HIV testing. Anonymous tests won’t link your name to your results, whereas confidential information could be made available to medical personnel. Be sure to ask about financial costs, how you’ll receive your test results and how long those results will take. It’s always good to know what to expect that way there will be no surprises later.

Testing: I am terrified of doctors, I don’t like the smells, the instruments, their crisp white coats, even the terminology creeps me out (I’m going to apologize for using said terminology below, but hooha and peen just didn’t seem appropiate). The whole experience gives me that pre-diarrhea feeling but I learned the best way to cope is to know what to expect before going in. Here are all the different tests that are out there. It seems like a lot, but different tests are specific to different infections so chances are you’ll be finished after a quick swab and a blood test.

• Blood test: This can test for hepatitis A, B and C; herpes (Although most blood tests for herpes cannot distinguish between type 1 and type 2), syphilis, and HIV.
• Urine test: This can be used to test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV.
• Swab cell culture or discharge sample from the throat, anus, cervix, or urethral opening of the penis: This is used to test for bacterial vaginosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis.
• Swab DNA test from the cervix or urethral opening of the penis: This is used to test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HPV. The HPV DNA test is used for women as follow up to an abnormal Pap smear that indicates HPV infection. It is not reliable for testing HPV in men.
• Swab sample from a sore or lesion: This can be used to test for herpes and syphilis.
• Swab sample from oral fluids: This can be used to test for HIV.
• Visual Exam: This can detect crabs, herpes, and HPV.

The Results: So let’s say you did the right thing, got tested, and the results were less than perfect. Don’t freak out. Your doctor will set you up with a treatment plan. There are magic little pills that can clear that mess right up, or at least treat any uncomfortable symptoms and help prevent further infection.

If you still have questions be sure to Ask the Experts and have a Happy STD Awareness Day!

Then I found out that two of the eight girls living in my house (25%) had contracted an STD. These two girls weren’t promscuous – one was a virgin! – and the other was always safe. And that was when I realized just how serious STDs were for all women on college campuses.

The problem with STDs is that people don’t talk about them. We all think that by practicing safe sex – using a condom – we are safe from everything and because we have this false sense of safety, many of us never get tested. And that is why 1 in 4 college students currently have an STD.

April is STD Awareness Month and in conjuction with that, we at CollegeCandy decided to stop regular posting and turn today into STD Awareness Day. We have teamed with with many experts in the field – doctors, nurses, STD specialists, etc. – to bring you the information you need to protect yourself and start a necessary dialogue on a serious issue.

We urge you to learn a little bit and make an appointment to get tested!

Below are some pretty serious and scary facts about STDs that we never knew. Chances are, you don’t know about them either and that is dangerous. Knowledge is power and when it comes to STDs, it is the power to protect youself:

• Sexually transmitted diseases are among the most common infectious diseases in the U.S. today, especially among our youth. The CDC estimates there are approximately 19 million new cases of STDs each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24.

• Women are 6-7 times more likely to acquire Herpes than men are.

• Over 80% of women will be exposed to HPV.

• Many women have STDs without ever knowing it — 70% of women with chlamydia and up to 50% with gonorrhea never get symptoms.

• It’s possible to get infected, recover, and never find out, but even these invisible infections could cause infertility: about 30 to 40% of women with untreated chlamydia get pelvic inflammatory disease which sometimes causes fertility issues later in life.

• A person who has never had a symptom can have an STD, and is therefore still able to transmit STDs.

• Younger people are more vulnerable to chlamydia and HPV (the two most common STDs in the US) than older people.

• 20% of all Americans over age 12 test positive for genital herpes virus in their blood.

• Women who have sex with women are at risk for many of the same STDs as women who have sex with men. Women may transmit bacterial and parasitic infections of the vagina to other women and there is also evidence of HIV transmission. In theory, women who have sex with women may also transmit HPV and may transmit oral herpes to the genitals.

• Even if you’ve been tested for STDs and told you’re disease-free, you may still be at risk: STD testing practices vary by doctor, and doctors often choose which STDs to test for based on the patient’s sexual history. Therefore, it’s important to be honest with your doctor when getting tested.

• CDC estimates that there are approximately 2.8 million new cases of chlamydia in the United States each year, and more than half of new cases remain undiagnosed and unreported.

• Most syphilis cases occur in persons 20 to 39 years of age.  In 2006, The incidence of syphilis was highest in women 20 to 24 years of age and in men 35 to 39 years of age.

• Having syphilis (or most other curable STDs) once does not protect a person from getting it again. Following successful treatment, people can still be susceptible to re-infection.

• Gonorrhea can spread to the blood or joints. This condition can be life threatening.

• Having nearly any STD can increase your risk of contracting HIV.

• Most people get genital herpes by having sex (or merely contact) with someone who is shedding the herpes virus, either during an outbreak or during a period with no symptoms. People who do not know they have herpes play an important role in transmission.

• More than 100 different types of HPV exist, most of which are harmless. About 30 types are spread through sexual contact and are classified as either low risk or high risk.

• Symptoms to STDs, such as the genital warts associated with HPV, may appear within several weeks after sexual relations with an infected person, take months to appear, or they may never appear. This makes it hard to know exactly when or from whom you got the virus.

Did you know that April is STD Awareness Month? Probably not seeing as it’s not the most exciting thing to celebrate. I’m not sure many cities or towns hold parades with condom floats rolling down the street and children with “Yay, Herpes!” balloons tied to their wrists.

Well, it is. And while it’s not the most fun thing to celebrate, STD awareness is incredibly important.

In conjunction with the month long push by the CDC, Planned Parenthood and other medical organizations, CollegeCandy will be halting regular posting tomorrow and devoting the entire day to STD awareness. We’ve teamed up with some really knowledgeable and important people who know their stuff to bring you some pretty important information on STDs and how to protect yourself.

1 in 4 college women have an STD and only 10% know it. 10%!! Check back in with us all day tomorrow to avoid being a statistic. And in the meantime, go get tested. It’s the only way to protect yourself and prevent spreading anything icky on to that guy you’ve been eyeing in the caf.

Have you always imagined beer being a juvenile drink of choice? You know, the first thing you are able to buy with a fake id at the convenience store and the mainstay of colleges across the nation?

I always imagined a “mature” adult being the one to order vodka on the rocks or some sort of hardcore liquor. Well, it’s time for all of us to throw those notions out the window. Recent studies conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have found that adult binge drinkers actually prefer beer, and teens are the ones into the “hard stuff.”

Why might this be?

According to a CNN article, researchers speculate that a possible reason is, “For adults, beer is cheaper and easy to find, sold in gas stations and grocery stores. However, for teens, it may be easier to filch free booze from their parents’ liquor cupboards.”

When I really think about it, the results make sense. It seems so much more exciting and rebellious to drink liquor before you are 21, instead of a plain old beer. Also, in terms of adults, it is socially acceptable to have a beer with dinner or a glass of wine. But, if an adult is like, “Pass me the vodka,” everyone looks at him/her and thinks, “Whoa, what’s wrong with them? They must have had a rough day…”

And just in case you forgot, CNN reminds us that, “Binge drinking — no matter which type of alcohol — is bad for your health. Excessive alcohol is acutely dangerous because of its role in car crashes, violence and other traumatic injury, and is blamed for 75,000 deaths annually.”

Although I find the results of this study interesting, I can’t help but wonder why this study was conducted or funded…Aren’t there more important things we can put our money towards nowadays instead of evaluating our country’s preference of booze when binge drinking?

Just a thought.

What’s your preferred binge drinking method?

What’s even scarier about this is between 700,000 and 800,000 people are infected with gonorrhea each year. I don’t know why this is—I imagine it’s because you’re already fighting a virus—but women infected with gonorrhea are more likely to contract HIV. I searched around for a little bit to try and figure out exactly why this is, and didn’t find a clear explanation. So, if someone knows enlighten me.

Reading the statistics about this can be slightly disarming. I didn’t know that women who take birth control are four times more likely to contract an STD. What else… Nearly 50% of sexually active women contract HPV in their lives. That’s a lot! Women are also more succecptable to STDs.

I don’t want to be preachy, but at this point, we should all know better than to not protect ourselves. Sometimes, it can be easy to get carried away and caught up in the moment, but there are so many things out there now that it’s not worth it. Besides—there are an array of fun condoms out there. I kind of want to try this vibrating one…