BRAVO study participants can earn $155!

BRAVO - a new study on Women's Reproductive health was recently launched by the San Francisco Public Health Department. Eligible participants receive a miniumum of $155.

The BRAVO study focuses on young women between the ages of 18 and 25 who have bacterial vaginosis (BV). Even though BV is NOT a sexually transmitted infection, it can lead to vaginitis (vaginal irritation, abnormal odor and abnormal discharge). If all this sounds like way too much information (TMI), just think about how much PREVENTION can begin once this study gets underway (and more funding for women's health period!)

Eligibility:18-25 years of age - Not pregnant - Currently sexually active - Screen positive for asymptomatic BV (not a transmitted infection).

The aim of the study is to learn more about and identify BETTER ways to keep young women healthy and reduce sexually transmitted infections.

Sign-up information can be found on Craig's List or by emailing Bravostudy2008@yahoo.com

Check out the info and let your female friends and family know about BRAVO - the best prevention is protection!

View and Vote - top Teensource condom designs!

The California Family Health Council's 2008 Condom Cover Art Contest is underway, and the clock is ticking to choose your favorites from the top 45 entries on the TeenSource contest hub.

The contest was designed to give young adults the opportunity to educate their peers about STDs through art. Participants aged 13-25 sent in their creative ideas and are in the pool for one of 6 $500 awards that will be presented at an upcoming press conference in Los Angeles.

Voting ends September 2, and trust me, it isn't easy to choose. Vote now!

Underwear Design Contest launches!

What if your underwear really did have the last word? Too many of us miss the opportunity to talk to our partners about STD/HIV prevention and other ways of maintaining a rockin' sex life.

inBrief is an underwear design contest where you get to design your own STD/HIV prevention slogan or sexual health motto on a pair of boxers, underpants or a T-Shirt. The winning design gets a 1000 bucks and we'll make a dozen pairs of your design! You have until May 15th!

We've partnered with Brickfish to run this contest because (they rock) each entry can be shared in multiple ways. You can email entries, blog them, and bookmark them. This way, sexual health messages can take on a course of their own! Brickfish even maps how viral the entries become and you can follow their progress.


Cyrene, of Fresh Focus Video Contest fame made us this sweet animation. (Check out her previous work, "Sex Monsters"). Feel free to re-post this video. Click 'share' for the embed code. Or, steal our press release.

And now...start making undies.

Reuters inSPOT snowball - and that's a good thing

On Valentine's Day Reuters touted inSPOT as another tool in the tool belt for putting the smack on rising syphilis rates in New York City. We agree, it's a sharp tool indeed.

Quick to follow Reuters was the DC culture blog Heybeus who called us inSPOT creators "tech-savvy, crotch burny San Franciscan[s]." And we totally take that as a compliment.

And the snowball gained ground... another wink and a nod from Vermont and our own local wit, SF Weekly.

More buzz = more awareness about STD and HIV notification options = more responsibility taken!

Youth Radio covers sexual health issues

Youth Radio offers media training to youth ages 14-17 to promote young people's intellectual and creative growth. Involved youth have access to industry professionals and get to participate in the production of award winning programming.

Youth Radio programming covers just about everything of interest to young adults. Here is a small taste of some of their STD, HIV and Sex Ed programming.

Get Tested

Shooting Down HPV

Latinos and AIDS

Changing the Course of Sex Education

To get involved as a youth check out these options.
To learn about supporting Youth Radio and their new expanded offices check out the Support Us page. A $200 donation provides field staff with recording equipment, and $50 provides teachers with supplies for after school tutoring.

Stay tuned to find out how Youth Radio may work with ISIS to report on the Sex::Tech conference.

STDtest.org will challenge STD & HIV testing norms

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently threw a wrench in their grantmaking process with the advent of the Changemakers supported open source competition titled: Disruptive Innovations in Health and Health Care: Solutions people want.

ISIS has entered a proposal to expand STDtest.org to include gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV and herpes in addition to syphilis. STDtest.org will allow people to receive FREE STD and HIV testing by printing out a lap slip, going to a local test site and then retrieving results online. HIV results will be given over the phone. The service smashes barriers to sexual health care that many people experience...those who cannot afford basic tests or those who rather not speak to a doctor about their history will have access to the tests they need in order to know their STD and HIV status.

Please comment on the ISIS / STDtest.org proposal to keep the dialog going and attract attention to this crucial "disruption technology."

So far there are 150 amazing entries from 23 countries all aimed at transforming health care and health care delivery through technology. The entry period ends tomorrow (last chance to comment on the entries), followed by a four period week period where the finalists are narrowed down to 12. Then there will be a two week period ending Aug 29 with the announcement of the winners. $5,000 will be given to three winners, with the potential of 5 million dollars for the project(s) with the most potential impact.

Help make STDtest.org a winner!

Join us at Sex::Tech in 2008

ISIS is excited to announce the first conference focusing on technology and HIV/STD prevention for youth! Co-hosted by SFSU's National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC) and Institute for Next Generation Internet (INGI).

When: January 22-23, 2008 Downtown San Francisco
Why: To re-focus technology based prevention efforts for youth in exciting new ways!
Who: Sex::Tech 2008 will bring together young people as well as public health professionals, researchers, teachers, writers, tech industry folks and many more!

We are currently accepting abstracts and workshop proposals.

The conference is limited to 300 attendees, so make your move and register now! To guarantee a youthful presence, we're offering full-time students and people 25 and younger the stellar registration rate of 20 bucks!

Visit SXTechconference.org for full details, and tell a friend about Sex::Tech using our e-card feature.

MyBlackBook popularity grows

I blogged this a while back, but it is really nice to see MyBlackBook catching on. 2032+ people have signed up to keep track of their sex lives. The site makes its purpose very clear:

"What happens if you find out you have an STD? How do you know who to notify? Well, some people, both male and female keep track of whom they have slept with either in a little diary or notebook. However, this has always posed a security flaw - what if someone finds it?? Well, MyBlackBook has solved that problem by creating The Internet's First Secure and Confidential Online Sexual History Tracker!"


It's free to sign up, and easy to add an entry or session. The pull down menus are pretty rigid in some categories (like you have to be male or female and either straight, bi or gay), but the each entry also gives plenty of room for embellishing, including over a dozen "activities" to select that you tried and also nearly a dozen sexual positions to choose from.

Two extra features stand out on this site.

1. VDNote provides a risk assessment as a percent chance that you will acquire each listed STI based on your personal entries. After entering one fictitious unprotected encounter where I "had anal sex" I had a 2.91% chance of getting herpes, 0.01% chance of getting syphilis, etc. Therhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gife is a disclaimer, which I was relieved to see. I think the idea might help some realize their risk for STIs in general, but cannot paint a realistic picture of what to worry about. The site also does not mention HIV/AIDS.

2. Graphs provide a visual representation of your monthly sexual activity, hourly sexual activity (as in do you do it at night or in the morning?) and a pie chart of the sexual positions that you do. If these were constructed differently, or addressed different aspects of the sex you're having, then they could be better risk management tools. As they are now, they might just state the obvious right back to you. For example: yes I like 'reverse cowgirl' and yes, I like it in the morning.

The forums hold some gems, but the site could really pack a punch if they also talked about what to do with all the saved info if/when you do get an STI. I am making the suggestion to them. This is their chance to reach this particular record-keeping group.

Check out the press release.

Update: MyBlackBook now links to InSPOT.org. Yay!

Games for Change & Interactive Nights Out

I've been reading Ian Bogost's live blog from the Games for Change Festival, taking place in New York yesterday and today.

Day 1
Day 2

Being in the sexual health/STD & HIV prevention world, I'm naturally searching for games and ideas with that sort of slant. This live blog is super helpful for getting an idea of the gaming-for-social-good groups and what their collective thoughts/disagreements look like.

Update: my other reliable videogame resource is also writing about this. Please see Sexy Videogameland and Gamasutra for more thoughtful coverage of Games for Change.

On a semi related note: earlier today I was forwarded this link (thanks Rachel) to a program/game called Interactive Nights Out 1 and 2. The synopsis begins as follows:

"Interactive Nights Out 1™ (INO1™) helps 17-25 year-olds make informed choices about HIV/AIDS, STDs, pregnancy, relationships, alcohol and other drugs. Players become the lead character in both male and female-centered movies, make choices for the characters, and witness the consequences of their decisions."

Has anyone played this yet? The mega roadblock for me is that you have to buy a license. The conditions of use are a bit stiff at $3,200. The idea seems to be that an organization buys it and installs it on a common computer at a convenient location for youth?

Adult Industry Medical - Testing the talent

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inSPOT adds FL, NYC, MN, Seattle and Toronto

We've been busy at ISIS that last few months replicating inSPOTs, our peer to peer online partner notification system for STIs and HIV.

New to the list are Florida, New York City, Minnesota, Seattle and Toronto.

For those of you unfamiliar with inSPOT, the service has two main features.
1. If you test positive for an STI or HIV, you can send an e-card, anonymous or not, to your partner(s) who you may have exposed.
2. The e-card recipient is linked directly to a map of local clinics and detailed information about the infectious agent that they may have been exposed to.

What does it take to make an inSPOT you ask?

• We verify every clinic's hours of operation, location, services, fees, populations served, insurance details and tests offered by phone to make sure that it is up to date and reliable for e-card recipients (or anyone who uses inSPOT to locate a clinic).
• We create a custom map searchable by zip code/postal code, county/province and by region.
• We compile an area specific resource list for each new area.
• Other tech-y details of course
  

Will the list keep growing?

• There are 5 more in the pipes. Your area may be next.

It is important to understand that the e-cards can be used by anyone in any jurisdiction. For the recipient not located in a city/state there are alternative ways to find clinics in your area.

In CA, the California Family Health Council (CFHC) list title X clinics searchable by zip code. Title X is the only federal program devoted to provision of family planning and reproduction health care. Title X clinics provide patient education and counseling; breast and pelvic exams; STD, HIV and cervical cancer screenings; and pregnancy counseling and diagnosis.

For STI testing outside of CA, if title X status doesn't matter to you, or if you rather talk to a person call the CDC hotline:

(800) 342-2437 or (800) 227-8922 for English,

(800) 344-7432 for Spanish or

(800) 243-7889 for TTY service.

The wait isn't that long and I got three reliable clinic referrals when I called.

For HIV testing:
HIVTest.org is the CDCs HIV testing clinic finder. Searchable by city, county, state, zip code, and type of testing offered (oral, anonymous, confidential, free). Very comprehensive.

Online Clinic Listings - STD, HIV, contraception, etc.

If you need an HIV test, STD screening or contraception and family planning services where can you go? Many of us are familiar with what's in our own neighborhoods and where we can go, but in rural areas it's not always that easy. It can be even more challenging if you are seeking confidential services.

Here are some resources we know of. If you have a search tool you use let us know so we can add to this list for clinic sleuths nationwide.

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The California Family Health Council (CFHC) list title X clinics searchable by zip code. Title X is the only federal program devoted to provision of family planning and reproduction health care. Title X clinics provide patient education and counseling; breast and pelvic exams; STD, HIV and cervical cancer screenings; and pregnancy counseling and diagnosis.

HIVTest.org is the CDCs HIV testing clinic finder. Searchable by city, county, state, zip code, and type of testing offered (oral, anonymous, confidential, free).

InSPOT.org, the peer-to-peer STD and HIV notification system has clinic search functionality. Each city or state has a map with clickable regions. Shown above is Minnesota, the latest to launch. InSPOT clinics are searchable three ways.

More STI hookup site reviews as promised

A while back I wrote a post with some short reviews of dating sites for folks with viral STIs. As promised, I'm back with 3 more STI dating sites. In order from good to shouldn't exist, here are three more:

MatchSTD.com
I like this free site for many reasons. Like most hookup sites, MatchSTD.com has a clause asking married individuals to please not use the service. Yet, unlike most hookup sites, STI* and non-STI focused alike, MatchSTD has an exception for people "participating in an alternative-style relationships." It also has a downhome feeling to its general language, probably b/c it is run by just 2 guys (both of whom admit that they don't have any STDs themselves but have friends whose dating lives suffered severely). One thing I couldn't figure out though was how to select United States as my location...perhaps it's a default, but that wasn't clear to me.

Positivelove.com
This site looks really nice (nicer than MatchSTD), but the profile logic is a bit wierd. When you go to sign up you select what your are, as in your gender. Then there's a drop down menu for "I am with," which is actually the list of possible STIs. Like STDMatch (not to be confused with MatchSTD) it lists chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Okay, folks, once again, these are CURABLE! They are not chronic-have-for-the-rest-of-your-life STIs. Get some antibiotics and THEN get a date. Jeez! Another thing that was a bit funky was the "My match" drop down menu. You can only select one answer and the choices include: American, Baptist, mediterranean, hispanic/latino, etc. "Are you American? I only date citizens." Whatever. Strange.

H-date.com ("time to start dating again..." is their tagline)
H-date is herpes focused, although there is some mention of HPV. Oddly, the terms and services section says, "You further represent and warrant that you are 13 years of age or older and that your use of the H-Date.com will not violate any applicable law." 13 years old on a dating site even if you're not breaking any laws? I went on to check out how profiles are built and saw that it includes the option to check boxes such as, "I can have sex with a good looking stranger anytime" or "I'll sleep with anyone who wants me." So while I applaud their acknowledgement that young people have sex, they should be doing something to ensure that young people meeting on their site are just having sex with other young people. At least setting up their search logic differently. Another large oversight is that a person of any age can say they 'prefer' a 13 yo. Oops.

*I tend to use "STD" because it's what CA state STD control still uses, the CDC uses, etc. There has been a move among health professionals and public health communities to use STI (sexually transmitted infection) for several reasons. 1. An infection is much less stigmatized than a disease. 2. Many STIs have no symptoms. People may be infected, but are not 'diseased.' I am constantly corrected when I use 'STD' and am trying to change. This * will help me remember.

Sociolotron - Virtual Sex with Consequences

So, I risk sounding way out of the loop, but MMOs are not really my thing. However, STDs are my kind of thing and now I'm going to write about both at the same time! The adult MMO, Sociolotron is all about social interaction for adults (21 and over please). The game, I'm finding out, has a gigantic STD/infectious disease component whereby players can sexually contract infections which then require cures. I found a really great string about this on Bonnie's Heroine Shiek, where player discuss the consequences of getting a virtual STD.

Below, I've pasted some text from the Sociolotron site's section about "illness" for your pleasure. My comments are in orange.

"There are various diseases in the game and they basically break down in two categories: Airborne and sexually transmitted. The first type of disease is caught just by being close to an infected character and is therefore very insidiously. The second sort of disease can only be transmitted during a sexual intercourse. Diseases also have various degrees of contagiousness. Some may have only a slight chance of being transmitted, others may spread like a wildfire.

All diseases are programmed individually and can show different symptoms and effects. All diseases go through different stages and each stage can have a different effect. [SOUNDS LIKE SYPHILIS!] Some diseases just heal when the end stage is reached, some remain at that stage and some eliminate your character. Some diseases can be determined by just looking at the character since it may show some signs like spots or ulcers, others can only determined by a medical biocorder (a diagnosis device) or other means."

"Healing a disease can be tricky. The only possible cure for a disease is a specific drug that is tailored to this disease. The system provides 10 chemicals as raw materials and these chemicals must be mixed in a specific formula to target a disease. What makes things worse is, that some cures may only heal a disease in a certain stage. It may reduce the stage to the preceding one or it may cure the disease completely."

"Finding these formulas can be a VERY challenging task. Recipes must be collected in recipe books by pharmacists which are precious goods because they can not be shared. Having a recipe for a certain cure can be a gold mine, depending on how common this recipe is." [FAMILIAR PHARMACEUTICAL POLITICS?] ...

"Searching for cure will be one major part of the game, since diseases are everywhere! Consider working together with other characters on this task! Perhaps you found and run a hospital?"

Have Herpes or HPV? Need a hookup site?

So poz personals and hookup/dating sites for HIV positive folks have been around for a while. I wondered what dating services were out there for folks with other viral stds like herpes and HPV. Answer: Quite a few. Disclaimer: the following 4 sites have a straight focus.

STDmatch - This site appears to be world wide. Looks an smells like any other hookup/dating site, except for the required step of disclosing your particular STD, and then the STD you prefer your potential partner(s) to have. The home page defines it audience as folks with HSV, HPV or HIV. One thing I noticed was that chlamydia was listed as the lone bacterial offender...you know there's a treatment for that? Other than the overactive advertisments, this looks like a great site.

STDsingles - "It's fun, interactive, safe and anonymous -- until you decide to take it further." Hmmm...I think they mean it isn't anonymous anymore after you meet someone. I didn't get that at first. I was thinking, hmmm...good way to sabotage your hookup site. The registration process for this site is a bit irritating with lots of blinking arrows. All fields are required. They also call your STD your "condition."

Positivesingles - Positive singles is free or ~$20/mo for "Gold Membership," which actually seems necessary to really connect with anyone. This site has a great collection of "STD blogs" written by members. I found some heated debates about whether men or women suffer more from STDs (I think we know the answer to that / CDC is trying to prioritize correctly). Most resource links take you to commercial sites, but my favorite links was CharlotteH, a club in NC for folks with either herpes type or HPV.

STDFriends - Because of the funky pile of search terms at the bottom of the page, the seemingly bogus testimonials, and the low membersip numbers, this site seems a little hungry. However...I really like it. Unlike the others, you can select "Dating" or "Intimage Encounters." No where else have I seen casual encounter ads for STD positive folks. Most sites are geared towards partnership/marriage, as if to say, 'since you have an STD, don't be slut.' The other great feature (besides being free) is the drop down menus, including "what really turns me on." It's got some great choices, including: "a beard," "incense," "hard rock music," etc. Oh, and there's a page about telling your partner about your STD. This site has my top vote.

Coming soon, reviews of: MatchSTD.com, laffpersonals.com, positivelove.com, cupidsreviews.com, and H-Date.com .

To tell or not to tell, Divine Caroline asked me

For what it's worth I'm sharing this interview that a school pal of mine who writes for Divine Caroline did with me. The article appears on in the Body & Soul/Staying Healthy Section, and is called "How to get a piece of mind before getting a piece of tail." Honestly I had no idea that I was actually writing this much of the article, so many of my words that I never thought I would see in print are there. It's fine. The one part I would change however is the question about HIV disclosure. I originally had an extra sentence on the end that was cut out by an editor...it said something to the effect that I don't actually feel comfortable making recommendations to folks who are HIV-positive and are planning on disclosing, mostly because I have not been in that situation. (Hold your horses, that doesn't I've had every STD in the book either!)

I also thought the interview was a good way to spread the word about InSPOT, one way to tell any anonymous partners you have that they may have been exposed to something. Blogging about InSPOT has actually increased a little since a few months ago. Check this technorati chart:InSPOT per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

HPV Vaccine pushed along in CA

If passed, California bill AB 16, will require that all girls be vaccinated for HPV before entering the sixth grade, unless their parents file a letter stating that the vaccine is against their beliefs. The bill, introduced by Assembly Speaker Sally Lieber (D), does not seek funding to cover the cost of the vaccine however. While that's a bit unsettling (the thing costs over 350 bucks) a lot more kids would be staying home if the other mandated vaccines (measles, mumps, etc.) required taking out a small loan. So, I actually doubt that once this is all rolled out parents/guardians will have to eat the cost.

That said, I totally support efforts to vaccinate all 12 year old girls. Funny to me however, is that most of the other vaccines on the required-for-school list are there for a very similar (and good) reason: they are EASILY transmitted kid to kid (and not by kids having sex with one another). I say that, not because I think the vaccine is the perfect subliminal messages telling all 12 year olds to go boinking around (no evidence of that with hepB vaccines), but b/c it's a lovely shift towards longer term prevention in schools.

For the future, I'd like to see boys covered as well. We didn't kick measles or polio by vaccinating half of everyone.

Read this bioethics blog for a great critique of the NEJM's latest about HPV, "The Ethics and Politics of Compulsary HPV Vaccination."