 |
  |
 the most common STDs?
Every year, nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection).1 One of these infections is human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others can cause problems later in life. The include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is HPV and how do you get it? Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common viral STI. You get HPV from having sex with an infected person. You can also get it from just "fooling around." Babies can get it from their mothers during childbirth. Although most infected people have no symptoms, they can still pass on HPV. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? HPV can also be passed during oral or anal sex. What happens if I'm infected? If you are like most people, you will have no symptoms at all. Some people with HPV have warts. These are usually in the genital area. People with HPV can get cervical, vaginal, penile, anal, or oral cancer.4,5 Babies who get the infection from their mothers can get warts in their throats. How do you treat HPV? Most people with HPV infection clear it on their own. However, some people will go on to develop warts or cancer. Although warts can be treated, they may return. For females, a Pap test can detect changes caused by HPV before they turn into cancer. Abnormal Pap tests and cervical cancer can be treated. The earlier you are treated, the more likely you are to be cured. All sexually active females should talk to a doctor about when to start having regular Pap tests. Am I safe if I always use a condom? If you always use condoms for vaginal sex, you can cut your chance of getting HPV by up to 70%.6-9 So far, there is no evidence that condoms reduce your chance of getting HPV during oral or anal sex. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Kate Hendricks, MD, MPH&TM Date: May 2007 Revised by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: December 2009 Every year, nearly 9 million people less than 25 years of age get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection).1 One of these infections is genital herpes. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is genital herpes and how do you get it? Genital herpes is the most common viral STI. It is caused by the herpes simplex virus. One in six people over the age of 12 in the US are infected with herpes.2 You get it from having sex with an infected person, and babies can get it from their mothers during childbirth.3 Although most infected people have no symptoms, they can still pass on herpes. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? Herpes can also be passed during oral3 or anal4 sex. What happens if I'm infected? If you are like most people, you will have no symptoms at all. On the other hand, you could have symptoms such as painful outbreaks of blisters, sores or ulcers. You can also have pain and burning while urinating. Genital herpes infection also increases your chance of getting HIV.5 How do you treat genital herpes? Once you get herpes, you always have herpes. There is no cure. However, some medicines can reduce your symptoms.6 Am I safe if I always use a condom? If you always use condoms for vaginal sex, you can cut your chance of getting herpes by about half.7,8 So far, there is no evidence that condoms reduce your chance of getting herpes during oral or anal sex. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: July 2009 Every year nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection).1 One of these infections is chlamydia. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others can cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is chlamydia and how do you get it? Chlamydia is the most common bacterial STI.1 You get it from having sex with an infected person. Babies can get it from their mothers during childbirth. Although most infected people have no symptoms, they can still pass on chlamydia. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? Chlamydia can also be passed during oral2, 3 or anal2, 4 sex. What happens if I'm infected? If you are like most people, you will have no symptoms at all. On the other hand, you could have symptoms such as pain when going to the bathroom or a "discharge" coming from your penis or vagina. If you are a female, you may have abdominal pain. This could be from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), caused by chlamydia. PID can interfere with your ability to get pregnant.5 Chlamydia also increases your chance of getting HIV. How do you treat chlamydia? Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics. Delayed treatment can result in serious problems. Both you and your partner must be treated. Am I safe if I always use a condom? If you always use condoms for vaginal sex, you can cut your chance of getting chlamydia by about half.6,7 And, there is some evidence that if you always use condoms for anal sex, you can reduce your chance of rectal chlamydia.8 However, at this point, there is no evidence that condoms reduce your chance of getting chlamydia during oral sex. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: July 2009 Every year, nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection).1 One of these infections is gonorrhea. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is gonorrhea and how do you get it? Gonorrhea is the second most common bacterial STI.1 You get it from having sex with an infected person. Babies can get it from their mothers during childbirth. Although most infected people have no symptoms, they can still pass on gonorrhea. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? Gonorrhea can also be passed during oral2,3 or anal2,4 sex. What happens if I'm infected? If you are like most people, you will have no symptoms at all. On the other hand, you could have symptoms such as pain when going to the bathroom or a "discharge" coming from the penis or vagina. If you are a female, you may have abdominal pain. This could be from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), caused by gonorrhea. PID can interfere with your ability to get pregnant.5 Untreated infection can damage your joints, heart or brain. Gonorrhea also increases your chance of getting HIV. How do you treat gonorrhea? Gonorrhea can be treated with antibiotics. Delayed treatment can result in serious problems. Both you and your partner must be treated. Am I safe if I always use a condom? If you always use condoms for vaginal sex, you can cut your chance of getting gonorrhea by about half.6,7 Condoms may also reduce your chance of getting gonorrhea during oral sex.8 So far, there is no evidence that condoms reduce your chance of getting gonorrhea during anal sex. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: July 2009 Every year, nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection). One of these infections is trichomoniasis. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is trichomoniasis and how do you get it? Trichomonasis is a very common STI. It is caused by a parasite. You get it from having sex with an infected person. Babies can get it from their mothers during childbirth. Although most infected people have no obvious symptoms, they can still pass on trichomoniasis. What happens if I'm infected? If you are like most people, you will have no symptoms at all. On the other hand, you could have symptoms such as itching or a discharge from the penis or vagina. Other symptoms include a burning sensation while urinating and pain during sex. If you are pregnant, you could have a premature baby. Trichomoniasis also increases your chance of getting HIV. How do you treat trichomoniasis? Trichomoniasis can be treated with antibiotics. Both you and your partner must be treated. Am I safe if I always use a condom? If you always use condoms for vaginal sex, you may reduce your chance of getting trichomoniasis. How much your chance is reduced is not known. What can I do to avoid being infected with trichomoniasis? Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Kate Hendricks, MD, MPH&TM Date: May 2007 Revised by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: November 2009 Every year, nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection).1 One of these infections is HIV/AIDS. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not even know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others can cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is HIV/AIDS and how do you get it? HIV is a virus that invades the immune system and slowly destroys it. This reduces your ability to fight off infections and cancer. Without treatment, people with HIV develop AIDS, which is fatal. You can get HIV from having sex with an infected person. Some infected people have no symptoms. But, even without symptoms, they can pass on HIV. You can also get HIV from contact with infected blood. Your risk is greatly increased if you have multiple sex partners or shoot drugs. Babies can get it from their mothers during pregnancy or childbirth. You can't get HIV from casual contact such as shaking hands or hugging. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? Anal sex is extremely risky for passing HIV. HIV can probably be passed during oral sex. What happens if I'm infected? At first, you will probably have brief flu-like symptoms (tiredness, fever, aches). You may have no other symptoms for years. Even with no symptoms, you can still pass on the disease during sex. If you go on to get AIDS, you may get cancers or multiple infections that other people fight off easily. How do you treat HIV/AIDS? If you have HIV, you can prolong your life by taking daily medicine for the rest of your life. However, the drugs are expensive and have significant side effects. If you are pregnant, there are very good drugs to reduce your baby's chance of getting HIV. You should also talk to your doctor about other precautions for your baby. Am I safe if I always use a condom? Condoms work pretty well, but not perfectly, for reducing your chance of getting HIV during vaginal sex. If you always use condoms for vaginal sex, you can cut your chance of getting HIV by about 85%.3,4 However, this still leaves you with a significant chance of getting HIV. To date, there is no evidence that condoms reduce your chance of getting HIV during oral sex. However, there is some evidence that always using condoms for anal sex may cut your chance of getting HIV by up to half. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Don't shoot drugs. Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked out. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Kate Hendricks, MD, MPH&TM Date: May 2007 Revised by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: December 2009 Every year, nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection). One of these infections is syphilis. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not even know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is syphilis and how do you get it? Syphilis is a bacterial STI. You get it from having sex with an infected person. You usually get it through contact with sores or infected patches. These can be on the genitals, on skin near the genitals, or sometimes even on the mouth. Babies can get it from their mothers during pregnancy. Many infected people don't notice any symptoms, but they can still pass on syphilis. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? Syphilis can be passed through contact with infected skin and during oral or anal sex. What happens if I'm infected? Syphilis symptoms are often similar to those of other diseases. At first, you may get a painless sore for a few weeks. If you don't get treatment, your syphilis will get worse. Next, you may feel like you have the flu. At this point, you may notice a rash. If you still don't get treated, syphilis can cause blindness, brain damage, heart damage and death. If you are pregnant, you can have a miscarriage or a stillborn baby. A baby born with syphilis can have serious birth defects. Syphilis may also increase your chance of getting HIV. How do you treat syphilis? Syphilis can be treated with antibiotics. However, they will not repair any damage already done. Delayed treatment can result in serious problems. You and your recent partners must be treated. Am I safe if I always use a condom? If you always use condoms for vaginal sex, you can cut your chance of getting syphilis by about half. So far, there is no evidence that condoms reduce your chance of getting syphilis during oral or anal sex. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Kate Hendricks, MD, MPH&TM Date: May 2007 Revised by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: December 2009 Every year nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection).1 One of these infections is hepatitis B. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others can cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is hepatitis B and how do you get it? Hepatitis B is a serious viral STI that affects the liver. Because it is transmitted through blood and body fluids,2 you can get it from having sex or sharing needles with an infected person. Babies can get it from their mothers during pregnancy. Although many infected people have no symptoms, they can still pass on hepatitis B. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? Hepatitis B can also be passed during anal sex. Because the virus that causes hepatitis B can be found in saliva and other body fluids, it may be possible to pass hepatitis B during oral sex. What happens if I'm infected? You may have no symptoms at all. On the other hand, you could have symptoms such as weakness, loss of appetite and nausea. You skin or eyes could look yellow. Although most people get over their hepatitis B infections, some people have it for life. Life-long infection can cause liver damage, cancer and death. How do you treat hepatitis B? Hepatitis B can be treated with medication. But treatment is expensive, has side effects and only works for some people. Your baby needs a special vaccination if you have hepatitis B and you are pregnant. Am I safe if I always use a condom? Considering the way hepatitis B is transmitted, always using condoms may reduce your chance of getting it. Is there anything else I can do to reduce my chance of getting infected? Hepatitis B vaccine is very effective. It is recommended for all children and household contacts of people with life-long infections. It is also recommended for people who shoot drugs as well as males who have sex with males. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Don't shoot drugs. Never get a tattoo or body piercing from an uncertified place. Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Reviewed by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: July 2009 Every year nearly 9 million people under the age of 25 get a new STI (sexually transmitted infection).1 One of these infections is hepatitis C. If you've had sex, you could have an STI. Some STIs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one and not know it. Some STIs make you sick today and others can cause problems later in life. These include serious problems like cancer or infertility. Some can even kill you. What is hepatitis C and how do you get it? Hepatitis C is a serious viral STI that affects the liver.2 Because it is transmitted through blood and body fluids,3 you can get it from having sex or sharing needles with an infected person. Babies can get it from their mothers during childbirth.3 Although most infected people have no symptoms, they can still pass on hepatitis C. Am I safe if I only have oral or anal sex? It may be possible to pass on hepatitis C during oral sex. It can be passed during anal sex, particularly if other STIs are present. What happens if I'm infected? You may have no symptoms at all. On the other hand, you could have symptoms such as weakness, loss of appetite and nausea. Your skin or eyes could look yellow. Most people who get hepatitis C infection have it for life. Life-long infection can cause liver damage, cancer and death.3 If you also have HIV, your hepatitis C infection may get worse faster. How do you treat hepatitis C? Hepatitis C can be treated with medication. But treatment is expensive, has side effects and does not always work. Am I safe if I always use a condom? Considering the way hepatitis C is transmitted, always using condoms may reduce your chance of getting it. What can I do to avoid getting infected? Don't shoot drugs. Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. Already had sex? See a doctor and get checked. References Authored by: Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Date: May 2007 Revised by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH Date: July 2009 |
|||||||||
[ top of page ] | |||||||||
| © 2011-2012 Agape Pregnancy Resource Center | 512-248-8200 | admin@agapeprc.org | Web Design by Austex Websites |