Comprehensive Application Of Epidemiology

Studies show that the national average for an adolescent’s first sexual intercourse encounter is seventeen years old. Despite this number being very close to the average age in other industrialized countries, the United States holds a higher percentage of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) contraction than those countries (Harper et al, 2010, p. 125). It’s becoming evident that while a majority of the nation’s youth is sexually active, they are not doing so with the appropriate knowledge to keep themselves and others healthy.

Teens end up getting sexually transmitted diseases because they are unaware of the consequences of unprotected sex. No abstinence-only program affected the incidence of unprotected vaginal sex (The Australian). Annually 3 million teenagers contract STDs from their partner (Robert Rector). Teens who have early sex not only suffer from STDs, they also have emotional and physical damage. Research shows that young people who become sexually

"Approximately four million teens get a sexually transmitted disease every year" (Scripps 1). Today’s numbers of sexually active teens differ greatly from that of just a few years ago. Which in return, projects that not only the risk of being infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) has risen, but the actual numbers of those infected rise each year as well. These changes have not gone unnoticed. In fact have produced adaptations as to how society educates its young adults about sex, using special programs, various advertising, and regulating sexual education courses in public schools. One major adaptation is the advancement and availability of

Lifelong sexual health for adolescents requires this vulnerable population have information about and access to affordable, youth-friendly, and culturally competent sexual healthcare services. In addition, the providers of these sexual healthcare services should be trained to respect privacy and support these teens in making individualized choices that are appropriate for them. As evidenced by the rate of STIs and unplanned pregnancy among marginalized youth populations, barriers such as stigma, discrimination, lack of knowledgeable providers, cost burden,

Over 15 million STD’s are contracted in the U.S. each year (Koumans et al., 2005). Over one one-fifth of these cases involve two of the most commonly known STDs: chlamydia and gonorrhea (Koumans et al., 2005) Unfortunately, most of the individuals who get infected with these diseases fall into the age range of 15-24 years old (Koumans et al., 2005). According to Wyatt & Oswalt (2014), almost half of all STD’s contracted each year are by young people ages 15-24 years old. Moreover, the data shows that, “45% of herpes infections, 70% of gonorrhea infections, 63% of chlamydia infections, and 49% of HPV infections occur among youth between the ages of 15-24 years” (Wyatt & Oswalt, 2014). Given that many college students are between the ages of 18-24 years, it is important that schools focus on educating students about the risk of

In the last decade or so, however, the growing awareness of the dangers of AIDS does appear to have contributed to a decline in the rates of sexual intercourse among teens. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that between 1991 and 2005 the percentage of teenagers who are sexually active dropped from 57.4 percent to 46.3 percent among males and from 50.8 percent to 44.9 percent among females. The rates of pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted disease among teens have actually dropped even faster than the rate of sexual activity. So it appears that, in addition to postponing sex, teens are also becoming more responsible in their sexual activities. For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 87.5 percent of teens were either abstinent or used condoms. Of course, that means that 12.5 percent of teens were still having unprotected sex, but that is a significant improvement over past decades. Similarly, although the rate of teen pregnancy has declined, more than 11 percent of the babies born in the United States

One of the major topics correlated with adolescents is the increase in sexual activity among adolescents (Miller & More, 1990). The dramatic increase in sexual intercourse among members of the United States, mostly homosexual men, lead to one of the worst epidemics in history, the AIDS

Master of Professional Health Debra Hauser states that sexual education is an essential part of the development and growth of teenagers. In her article “Youth Health and Rights in Sex Education”, MPH Hauser provides a report of teenage pregnancies and STDs incidences, which points out that each year in the United States, about 750,000 teens become pregnant, with up to 82 percent of those pregnancies being unintended. Young people ages 15-24 account for 25 percent of all new HIV infections in the U.S (Hauser). According to Hauser, “sex education teaches young people the skills they need to protect themselves”, such as the ability to recognize patterns of a toxic relationships, learning to value and have control over their bodies, understanding

Numerous sexual partners enables the chances of contracting an STI, such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, or Syphilis, to increase; that being said, statistics indicate that one in every five teens has had four or more sexual partners. Teens of the ages 15 through 19 are among the highest rates of the population infected with the previously mentioned sexually transmitted diseases. Teens engaging in sexual activity are often exposed to diseases without full understanding of the ease that these infections can be transmitted; students need to be exposed to the severe consequences in order to promote more cautious future decisions, like the amount of sexual encounters. Many young males and females never acquire information on the numerous sexually transmitted infections that they could catch and distribute nor how to prevent or treat such diseases. The statistics of high school students that document receiving counseling on STDs and STD testing at a routine checkup with their doctor meets low expectations, recording at 42.8 percent for females and only 26.4 percent for males. The high rates of infected teens could be directly related to the lack of knowledge they receive on the possible diseases that can be distributed through sex. Without proper knowledge on sexually transmitted diseases, the

As mentioned before, some strains of HPV can lead to oral and cervical cancers and condoms are not completely reliable when it comes to protection. Currently, options are limited for both prevention of infection of patients with HPV-associated disease: infection can only be prevented with complete abstinence from all forms of sexual activity because condoms do not offer complete protection from HPV and HPV can be transmitted by nonintromissive sexual activities (Weaver, 2006). Teaching teenagers about safe sex falls on caregivers which include parents. Teenagers who do not have a stable home life, whether the parents work all the time, or there is only a single parent, are more at risk because they less likely to be supervised adequately. This is the reason it is so important to educate these teenagers about sex and STIs.

According to studies there has been an increase of unprotected intercourse in adolescents that leads to sexually transmitted diseases, psychological disorders, and the use of substance abuse (Jemmott, Fong, G. T. (2005)). Adolescents typically go to the use of drugs to throw away the feelings they encounter in everyday situations. Studies also show that most adolescents that involve their selves in intercourse at an early age will have a larger number of sexual partners, and use condoms less often when engaged in intercourse.

(DM2). It will focus only on DM2, as type 1 diabetes (DM1) is an autoimmune disorder. Canada

Populations “at risk” are defined as those with inequalities in access to care, quality of care and interventions to reduce disparities, and outcomes (Chin, 2005). It is important for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) to understand identification of “at risk” populations when moving to develop a plan to intervene and improve statistical health outcomes. This paper will identify an “at risk” population, address how the health risk for this population can be affected by nursing science, discuss potential barriers to health prevention and promotion activity implementation, and consider collaboration with stakeholders and agencies that may be of interest when developing an action plan to promote health activities.

Vulnerable populations are "those with a greater than average risk of developing health problems by virtue of their marginalized socio-cultural status, their limited access to economic resources, or personal characteristics such as age and gender" (De Chesnay & Anderson, 2008). Infants and young children are vulnerable to a host of healthcare problems, they are susceptible to viral infection especially respiratory infection such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus. In this paper, the author will define and describe epidemiological triangle as it relates to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), types of epidemiology, and levels of prevention of RSV.

The purpose of this research paper it to deliver a basic understanding of epidemiology and epidemiologic investigations. One essential service of public health is the ability to diagnose and investigate identified health hazards in their communities. Epidemiology is an area of study used to identify those health hazards. Founded by John Snow in 1854, the term epidemiology is defined as the study of distribution and determinants of health, disease, or injury among human populations. Epidemiologic investigations are used to identify the problem of an outbreak and collect necessary data to formulate and test hypotheses. All collected information is scrutinized for additional facts/data to determine what the cause of illness is. Once the cause of illness is identified, control measures can be implemented to prevent future illnesses. Additional information delivered throughout this paper will include a further look at the 10 step approach used in investigations, common hindrances to avoid, ethical issues, America’s perspective, and the burden of disease. This information will provide readers with a universal understanding of epidemiology and the purpose of epidemiologic investigations.