Sexuality and STDs

sexuality

• Abstinence: Choosing not to be sexually intimate
• Sexually Intimate: Any behavior that can result in pregnancy or STD’s/STI’s

STIs and STDs

chlamydia

• Most Common Bacterial STI
• Signs:
  • Women-abdominal pain, nausea, fever
  • Men-discharge, painful urination, pain and swelling in testicles
• Consequences:
  • Sterility
• *50% of infected men have no symptoms and 75% of infected women have no symptoms
• *2 million become infected nationwide each year

genital warts

• aka Human Papillomavirus
• Signs:
  • small growths on vagina, cervix, penis, urethra
• Consequences:
  • No permanent cure, may lead to cervical cancer
• HPV is extremely common and infects an estimated 14 million people annually in the United States. Today 79 million living with HPV
• There are 40 types of HPV viruses
• The vaccine helps with the 4 most common types

herpes

• no cure
• Signs:
  • Small sores in genital area
• Consequences:
  • During pregnancy-may cause stillbirth
• *Around 85-90% of people don’t know they have it. An estimated 55 million (or 1 in 6) persons age 12 and older in the United States have genial herpes

gonorrhea

• Bacterial infection
• Signs:
  • Cloudy or yellow discharge, burning during urination
• Consequences:
  • Sterility
• *555,000 people a year in the U.S. are infected

syphilis

• Signs:

  • Chancre sore, rash

• Consequences:

  • Heart failure, blindness, mental disturbance, paralysis, and death

• *An estimated 30,000 people become infected with syphilis each year

  in the United States.

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)

• AIDS is a condition that is caused by an infection with a virus called Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).  HIV damages the immune system and eventually cripples the body’s ability to fight disease.
  • HIV becomes AIDS if their T-helper cell count falls below 200 and/or they develop certain serious diseases or conditions such as pneumonia.  AIDS is the end stage of the HIV infection
  • HIV is spread through:
  • Sexual Intercourse
  • Sharing needles
  • Pregnancy:  Infected mother to child
  • Blood to blood contact