Ever since she was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease called trichomoniasis a couple of years ago, “Wilma” has been on a mission to educate women about the dangers of unprotected sex.

Middle-aged Wilma (not her real name) had never heard of the disease until her doctor confirmed she had contracted it, but has been reading up on that and other sexually transmitted diseases ever since.

Fortunately for Wilma, she sought treatment immediately after the symptoms appeared within a few days. With medication the disease cleared up in about a week, but she will never forget the humiliation of having to go to the pharmacy to pick up her prescription.

After all, STDs are something that happen to younger people, or so she thought. She was in a long-term relationship, but later found out her partner, also middle-aged, was involved with other women, too.

“The message I have for women is while the AIDS figures in Bermuda - by this article I have here - are declining, the sexually transmitted diseases are increasing...and one can lead to the other,” said Wilma, referring to a newspaper clipping.

“With unprotected sex we just don't know when it might hit us, even though the other partner is probably pretty confident that everything is okay.”

As a result of her experience, Wilma pays a lot more attention to any articles pertaining to AIDS and other sexual diseases. She even has medical journals to help educate her about the different types of diseases.

“Every newspaper article and every AIDS Day I'm interested in what is being said, even worldwide,” she said.

“In Bermuda, from chatting with other females, I think maybe the men and women are figuring it is a gay thing and that they don't have to worry because they are not gay. But none of us know when one indiscretion by another partner could bring havoc down on us.

“What I've found with the minor sexually transmitted diseases like trichomoniasis is that if a person is not treated, especially for a female, it could lie in the body and then cancer of the cervix can be manifesting.”

Wilma admits talking about sexual matters, especially diseases, is difficult.

“For male partners who are not honest and who are seeking new partners while still trying to hold on to the old ones, I think it is selfish,” she says.

“It's a demeaning thing having to go to a pharmacy and get a prescription. You almost feel like they are looking on you as being a non-person. You haven't slept around but your partner has slept around.”

The disease trichomonas is commonly transmitted by a male having several partners.

“I never heard the word before, most people know of the really bad ones because they are in the news all the time,” Wilma pointed out.

However, Dr. Dale Wilmot, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, warns that the disease is very common and, while not as serious as some of the others, should not be taken lightly and people should seek treatment immediately.

“It's a very common sexually transmitted condition, but fortunately it is not, in and of itself, as serious as gonorrhoea, chlamydia, etc., except that sexually transmitted diseases tend not to travel alone, they tend to travel in groups,” Dr. Wilmot stressed.

“So where there is one there tends to be others. It's a problem in that it may indicate that there is the presence of possible other sexually transmitted diseases. So once someone tests positive for that (trichomoniasis) I would definitely screen them for the others...gonorrhoea, chlamydia, hepatitis, syphilis, HIV, etc., because where there is one STD there is usually others.”

Added Dr. Wilmot: “It causes a vaginal discharge and in and of itself, it usually doesn't cause a problem unless it become an ascending infection and causes a pelvic inflammatory disease. Usually it is not a serious STD, except for the fact it tends to travel with more serious sexually transmitted conditions.

“The treatment is 500 milligrams of Metronidazole a day for seven days. It is also important their partner is also treated and also screened for the other STDs as well.”

Wilma warned her partner of the fact she had contracted a disease and urged him to get tested. She says he was also in a state of denial as she tried to educate him on the disease.

“He said ‘don't bother me with all of that, girl, you worry too much,” she explained.

“It is just so annoying that there are so many men and women who just don't want to know, who don't want to be educated,” she says sadly.

“Not getting treated means that a person could leave a relationship and make friends a year or two later with somebody new, but it would still be lying in your body.

“Even our young people are not getting the message about safety and getting educated to the point that preventing a pregnancy is one thing, but if a girl is on the pill it won't stop the transmitted disease if they don't want to wear a condom.”

She added: “Something was on Oprah the other night that men in America, black and white, don't want to use condoms, so it puts their partners at more risk.

“Often middle-aged women are not rushing out there looking for a new mate, and that's not in my case, but I had known this person a long time and had we not married different people we might have been partners way back. (Neither are in their marriages now).

“In any cause I have made the conscious decision that I can't and won't play with my sexual health anymore. If you get learned up and don't do otherwise then you are being really foolish.”

Men with multiple partners think of themselves as ‘providing a service' to women with the shortage of men.

“Women make jokes about so few men being available, and maybe men have gone on an ego trip that says ‘there are lots of women, I know they are at home sitting up',” said Wilma.

She believes education has to start with young people.

“But if parents are not doing it, schools are not doing then where do the young people get educated? ” she wonders.

“Maybe these are the young that are not going to read a surgeon general's report in the newspaper. But if we don't do something we are going to see younger and younger people getting into serious trouble in their teens or early 20s and may not be able to bear children.

“Here in Bermuda, people don't want to discuss it but it is a reality in our life.”