Besides the obvious health risks of heavy drinking, beer pong can also help the spread of disease.

Beer pong has some unseen health risks

By: Nicole Kelly

Posted: 2/4/10

On a typical Friday night, most college students want to have a few beers and relax. This carefree behavior is contributing to the spread of H1N1 and it has also been a factor in the increase of oral herpes in people ages 17-21.
Since 2007, there has been a 230 percent increase in the transmission of Herpes Simplex Virus 1, also known as oral herpes. The Centers for Disease Control are contributing much of that increase to the sharing of cups in such drinking games as beer pong.
"I don't think sharing cups with people you don't know is safe, but sharing a cup with a friend isn't bad," Aubrey Trimble, a junior nursing major at St. Ambrose, said.
On college campuses around the country, sharing cups at parties has been found to be a common source of the spread of H1N1. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York has linked over 20 cases of H1N1 to the sharing of cups during drinking games. The health department at RPI sent out a campus-wide email asking students to lay off of the drinking games.
St. Ambrose is also trying to encourage students to stay safe and healthy during flu season.
"In my weekly updates, I remind students not to participate in drinking games," Nancy Hines, the Director of Health Services at SAU, said.
The spread of H1N1 may be the main concern right now, but she also says that sharing cups during drinking games can be an issue year round.
"Students are put at risk not only for flu but for colds, strep throat, pneumonia, bronchitis, meningitis, whooping cough, mumps, and other viral and bacterial infections," Hines said.
Some students are finding ways to stay safe, but also still have fun.
"We just put water in the cups instead of beer," said Simone Bessey, a senior at Ambrose.
"We just drink from our own can of beer when they make a cup, that way no one is drinking from the same cups."
This idea of "water pong" has been spreading around college campuses, but health officials warn that students still need to take more precautions.
The Centers for Disease Control still suggests that students should stop participating in drinking games all together. They should also wash their hands more frequently, cover their nose and mouths when coughing or sneezing, avoid touching their mouths, noses and eyes. Students should simply concentrate on maintaining good general health by getting plenty of sleep, being physically active, managing their stress, and eating nutritious meals.
Flu season is coming to an end and the number of cases is beginning to decrease gradually at St. Ambrose, but students should still continue to take the same precautions with drinking games because there are still plenty of diseases that can be spread such as herpes, meningitis and mono.