STDs and STIs
STDs/STIs Listing and Facts
"When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years."
-C. Everett Koop, M.D., Former U.S. Surgeon General
"Many teenagers, as well as adults, are indirectly exposed to more than one sexual partner each year because their partner has had sex with someone else."
-Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are any of a number of various diseases (including chlamydia, gonorrhea, Human Papillomavirus, HIV, trichomoniasis, and syphilis) that are usually contracted through sexual intercourse or other intimate sexual contact. Some STDs/STIs have no visible symptoms and if left untreated, can lead to more serious diseases, even death.
What is the difference between a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and sexually transmitted disease (STD)? These terms are often confused, but they are not interchangeable. Sexually transmitted infection is the broadest term. All STDs are STIs, but not all STIs are STDs. To keep with the trends in modern health care, we will be using the label "STI" where previously you would have expected to see "STD" in discussing this topic.
A sexually transmitted infection is an invasion of and multiplication in bodily tissue by a microorganism (for example, bacterium, virus, protozoan) that is usually (more than half the time) passed from one person to another during intimate bodily contact meant to give or derive sexual gratification.
A sexually transmitted disease, on the other hand, involves manifest damage to the body with or without symptoms secondary to an infection that is usually (more than half the time) passed from one person to another during intimate bodily contact meant to give or derive sexual gratification.
In the U.S. today, well over 70 million people are now infected by an STI. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported that now 85 percent of the most prevalent infectious diseases in the United States are sexually transmitted. The rate of STIs in this country is 50 to 100 times higher than that of any other industrialized nation. One in four sexually active Americans (possibly more) will be affected by an STI at some time in his or her life.
In addition, about 20 million new STI cases occur in the United States each year. Almost half of those occur in someone between the ages of 15 and 24. STIs can have very painful long-term consequences as well as immediate health problems. They can cause:
- birth defects
- blindness
- bone deformities
- brain damage
- cancer
- heart disease
- infertility and other abnormalities of the reproductive system
- mental retardation
- death
Thirty years ago, people only worried about two STDs—syphilis and gonorrhea. Today, there are at least 25, and many of them have no symptoms and no cure.
To see a listing of the more common STIs, including health and medical information on each, click here.
If you are at all questioning whether or not you may have contracted a STI, then you must see a medical professional immediately. The longer you leave an STI untreated the more life-threatening it becomes.
We offer free STI/STD testing and we would love to see you and answer any questions that you may have. To get in contact with one of our centers, click here.
To view our frequently asked questions about STIs, click here.