Sexually Transmitted Infections - General Fact Sheet

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), once called venereal diseases, are among the most common infectious diseases today. More than 20 STIs have now been identified, and they affect more than 13 million men and women in this country each year. The most common STIs include Chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, and HIV/AIDS.

Understanding the basic facts about STIs – the ways in which they are spread, their common symptoms, and how they can be treated– is the first step toward prevention. It is important to understand at least five key points about all STDs in this country today:

1. STIs affect men and women of all backgrounds and economic levels. They are most prevalent among teenagers and young adults. Nearly two-thirds of all STIs occur in people younger than 25 years of age.
2. The incidence of STIs is rising, in part because in the last few decades, young people have become sexually active earlier yet are marrying later. In addition, divorce is more common. The net result is that sexually active people today are more likely to have multiple sex partners during their lives and are potentially at risk for developing STIs.
3. Most of the time, STIs cause no symptoms, particularly in women. When and if symptoms develop, they may be confused with those of other diseases not transmitted through sexual contact. Even when an STI causes no symptoms, however, a person who is infected may be able to pass the disease on to a sex partner. That is why many doctors recommend periodic testing or screening for people who have more than one sex partner.
4. Health problems caused by STIs tend to be more severe and more frequent for women than for men, in part because the frequency of asymptomatic infection means that many women do not seek care until serious problems have developed.
   • Some STIs can spread into the uterus (womb) and fallopian tubes to cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which in turn is a major cause of both infertility and ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. The latter can be fatal.
   • STIs in women also may be associated with cervical cancer. One STI, human papillomavirus infection (HPV), causes genital warts and cervical and other genital cancers.
   • STIs can be passed from a mother to her baby before, during, or immediately after birth; some of these infections of the newborn can be cured easily, but others may cause a baby to be permanently disabled or even die.
5. When diagnosed and treated early, many STIs can be treated effectively. Some infections have become resistant to the drugs used to treat them and now require newer types of antibiotics. Experts believe that having STIs other than AIDS increases one's risk for becoming infected with the AIDS virus.

What Can You Do to Prevent STIs?
The best way to prevent STDs is to avoid sexual contact with others. If you decide to be sexually active, there are things that you can do to reduce your risk of developing an STD.

• Have a mutually monogamous sexual relationship with an uninfected partner.
• Correctly and consistently use a male condom.
• Prevent and control other STDs to decrease susceptibility to HIV infection and to reduce your infectiousness if you are HIV-infected.
• Delay having sexual relations as long as possible. The younger people are when having sex for the first time, the more susceptible they become to developing an STD. The risk of acquiring an STD also increases with the number of partners over a lifetime.

Anyone who is sexually active should:

• Have regular checkups for STIs even in the absence of symptoms, and especially if having sex with a new partner. These tests can be done during a routine visit to the doctor's office.
• Learn the common symptoms of STIs. Seek medical help immediately if any suspicious symptoms develop, even if they are mild.
• Avoid having sex during menstruation. HIV-infected women are probably more infectious, and HIV-uninfected women are probably more susceptible to becoming infected during that time.
• Avoid anal intercourse, but if practiced, use a male condom.
• Avoid douching because it removes some of the normal protective bacteria in the vagina and increases the risk of getting some STIs.

Anyone diagnosed as having an STI should:

• Be treated to protect personal health and reduce the risk of transmitting an STI to others, including an infant if pregnant.
• Notify all recent sex partners and urge them to get a checkup.
• Follow the doctor's orders and complete the full course of medication prescribed. A follow-up test to ensure that the infection has been cured is often an important step in treatment.
• Avoid all sexual activity while being treated for an STI.

Sometimes people are too embarrassed or frightened to ask for help or information. Most STIs are readily treated, and the earlier a person seeks treatment and warns sex partners about the disease, the less likely the disease will do irreparable physical damage, be spread to others or, in the case of a woman, be passed on to a newborn baby.