When Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome burst onto the public scene in the mid-1980s, people pointed their fingers at homosexuals, monkey fucking scientists, and any other group of people who had atypical sex life. The phrase "God's Will" kept creeping into TV evangelists' sermons, as they implied that AIDS would wipe the heathens off the earth. It still may have been God's Will for AIDS to infect humans so readily, but the result of having the virus may actually be beneficial in the long run.

While AIDS is still without a cure, the American public has become much more conscious about their sexual practices. Partners who are less than monogamous use condoms more times than not. As a result, other sexually transmitted diseases are petering out. Syphilis is on the verge of extinction. In 1990, 50,578 cases of syphilis were recorded. Last year, the number was 6,993. In a nation of hundreds of millions, that number is amazing.

A century ago, syphilis was the deadly STD, taking the lives of thousands including Oscar Wilde and Nietzsche. After penicillin was developed, the disease was treated with a single dose. Without a life threatening STD and a budding casual sex lifestyle, a slew of diseases and viruses came to the forefront over the next three decades. Herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, vaginitis, genital warts and strains of hepatitis.

Syphilis has been totally eliminated in Canada, England, Sweden and Denmark. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention is focusing heavily on 28 counties in the United States where syphilis cases are concentrated like Baltimore with 456 cases, Cook County (Chicago) with 364, and Shelby County (Memphis) with 343. Even at an all time low, the goal is to make sure the numbers never rise again.

I was part of the school-aged children who were taught about the dangers of STDs in health and gym classes. We scoffed and joked during the long presentations, but something must have sunk into our collective heads over the years.

AIDS brought something along with fear and paranoia. It has caused some responsibility to seep into the sexual active public. Teenage pregnancies are down with a larger group of kids waiting to have sex. As hormones keep blossoming earlier, teaching students as young as ten about responsible sex doesn't seem too out of whack.

This new responsibility didn't come without a huge price. Thousands of people have died in the United States from AIDS, and the ones who live with it take a massive amount of antibiotics to resemble anything near a normal life. AIDS is not partial or selective in who it infects. It doesn't just go after gay men or late night swingers. It takes anyone who leaves themselves open, and that can potentially be any of us.

There are probably a lot more diseases lying dormant in isolated places around the globe, and AIDS constantly keeps us on our toes. A cure will come someday. Though that day may be a long way from coming, it is nice to say we took out a few other STDs along the way. And we may even be a better, more mature culture for having to deal with it.

Chris Jungle hasn't had a serious illness since the chicken pox in third grade, and he'd like to keep it that way.