The 411 on STDs: 4 Facts about STDs
October 14, 2022 | Lauryn Willingham, SRAS
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, people have been more focused on their health, which is great! However, one aspect of an individual’s health that is often overlooked is his or her sexual health, specifically regarding STDs. STDs, or sexually transmitted diseases, are diseases spread through sexual activity; some examples of STDs are Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HPV, Genital Herpes, and HIV. At Live Free, we believe that students make the healthiest choices when they are informed about the topic. To inform parents and to help facilitate discussions between them and their children below is a brief overview of what Live Free educators teach regarding STDs.
1. STDs are extremely common. Each year around 10 million young people contract an STD—that’s twice the population of South Carolina. According to the CDC, in 2018, 26 million people contracted an STD (that’s about 8% of the US that got a new STD in 2018)!
2. STDs don’t always show symptoms. One of the main reasons that STDs are so common is because people don’t know when they are infected with an STD, so they don’t realize they are spreading it to their sexual partners. When first infected, some STDs will show symptoms (bumps, blisters, sores, abnormal discharge), but sometimes it takes months or even years for someone to show symptoms of an STD. *Note that if someone doesn’t have symptoms of an STD that does not mean that the STD is not affecting their health or make them unable to spread that STD.
3. STDs significantly affect someone’s life. Some people think STDs are not a big deal and that they can go to a doctor and get it cured. Although some STDs can be cured, the damage the STD had done cannot be reversed. For example, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, which could be cured with antibiotics, can cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) if left untreated. PID can cause ectopic pregnancy, infertility or pelvic pain. However, some STDs cannot be cured with antibiotics and may remain in someone’s body for life. Those STDs that cannot be cured significantly affects someone’s health and his ability to live the life he desires.
4. STDs are avoidable! Unlike other diseases like Covid, Flu, Cold, STDs cannot be passed through casual contact (shaking hands) or through the air. STDs are spread when one person infected with an STD engages in sexual activity (oral, vaginal, or anal sex) with another person. If someone decides to delay sex until marriage, he or she is not exposed to STDs because she is not engaging in activity that spreads STDs. Similarly, if both partners within a marriage decided to wait to have sex until marriage, and only have sex within that marriage, there is no risk for an STD to spread between partners.