How you get it:
Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
According to the 2003 Chlamydia fact sheets from the Center for Disease Control:• 74.1% of cases occur in people under the age of 25.
• The rate of chlamydia among African-American females in the United States was more than 7 times higher than the rate among white females.
• Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because about 75% of infected women and about 50% of infected men have no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks after exposure.
• 40 % of women with untreated chlamydia develop PID. PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Women infected with chlamydia are up to five times more likely to become infected with HIV, if exposed.

What about treatment?
Chlamydia can be an infection of slow destruction. Because it is often silent, years can pass before discovery of the infection. Regularly, that discovery accompanies grief as couples are given the grim news that they have become infertile as a result of infection. If you’ve been sexually active—GET TESTED! Chlamydia can be cured with antibiotics. All sexual partners must also be treated.

For more information about Chlamydia visit: CDC Mayo Clinic

HPV - Genital HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) & Genital Warts

What is it?
The Human Papiloma Virus is a sexually transmitted viral infection that infects the skin and mucous membranes. It includes over 100 strains. A few HPV strains cause highly contagious Genital Warts.According to the current CDC fact sheet on Human Papiloma Virus, approximately 20 million people are currently infected with HPV. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.

How you get it:
The HPV virus is spread by direct physical contact. The penis, scrotum, vulva, labia, anus, or tissues of the vagina or cervix and throat are all possible locations of infection.
• Most people who have a genital HPV infection do not know they are infected. If the HPV strain causes warts, they may be undetectable because of size or location, or infection may be present without warts.
• Warts may be tiny, gray, pink or red swellings in your genital area that grow quickly and may take on a cauliflower shape. They may cause itching or burning in your genital area as well as discomfort, pain or bleeding with intercourse.

What about treatment?
Most women are diagnosed with HPV based on the results of an abnormal Pap smear. If you are sexually active—HAVE A PAP TEST performed annually. Cervical cancer has been closely linked with HPV infection. Certain types of HPV also are associated with cancer of the vulva, cancer of the anus and cancer of the penis. There is no known "cure" for HPV, but an outbreak of warts can be controlled with medications or surgical treatments. The underlying virus is never completely eliminated, however, and genital warts may reappear even after treatment.

For more information about Human Papilloma Virus visit: CDC Mayo Clinic

Herpes - Genital Herpes (HSV)

What is it?
Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease that can be caused by the HSV-1 or 2 (herpes simplex type 1 or 2) viruses. HSV-1 causes infections of the mouth and lips, sometimes called "fever blisters" or “cold sores.” HSV-2 causes outbreaks of blisters and ulcerated blisters in the genital areas. Genital herpes is common. As many as one in five teens and adults in the United States have the virus. In the past 25 years, the incidence of genital herpes has risen 30 percent.

How you get it:
Genital Herpes, HSV-II, is spread though simple skin to skin contact as well as sexual contact with infected areas. HSV-1 (cold sores) can be spread by mouth through contact with the saliva and lips of an infected person. HSV-1 can also be spread from mouth to genitals through oral sex.
• Symptoms range from being unnoticeable to causing great discomfort. You may experience pain or itching around genitals, followed by blisters and ulcers.
• About half of those infected with the virus have only one outbreak in their lifetimes, but carry the HSV-2 virus. Others experience a range frequency of outbreaks.
• It is possible for the infection to be active and contagious even when sores are not present, making it difficult to fully protect an uninfected partner.

What about treatment?
The HSV infections stay in the body indefinitely. There is no treatment that can cure herpes, however, oral prescription antiviral medications can help heal the sores and reduce the frequency of outbreaks. If you are experiencing symptoms or suspect previous exposure SEE YOUR DOCTOR for diagnostic tests.

For more information on Genital Herpes: CDC Mayo Clinic

Syphilis

What is it?
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. It is passed through direct contact with a syphilis sore. These sores occur mostly on external genitals, vagina, anus, or on the rectum. They can also be found on the lips or in the mouth. The signs and symptoms of syphilis occur in three stages — primary, secondary and tertiary.

How you get it:
Syphilis can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
• Primary symptoms include the presence of a small, painless sore (chancre) and enlarged groin lymph nodes. Symptoms disappear within 6 weeks without treatment but the disease remains and progresses to the next stage.
• Secondary symptoms include a rash, fever, fatigue, aching bones/joints, or symptoms may disappear for up to two years before progression to the third stage.
• Tertiary symptoms include possible stroke, meningitis, poor coordination, paralysis, deafness, blindness, dementia, and aneurysm.

What about treatment?
Without treatment, syphilis bacteria may spread and cause serious internal organ damage and death. Early diagnosis and treatment with penicillin can kill the organism that causes syphilis and stop the progression of the disease. The treatment, however, can not repair any damage already accomplished by the infection. If you suspect you may have had a chancre sore, GET TESTED for syphillis before serious damage occurs.

For more information about Syphilis visit: CDC Mayo Clinic

Gonorrhea

What is it?
Gonorrhea is the second most common bacterial STD. It is caused by bacteria that grows and multiplies in the mucous membranes of the cervix (opening of the uterus), uterus, and fallopian tubes in women and in the urethra of both women and men. The bacteria can also grow in the mouth, eyes, throat and anus. Gonorrhea is a very common infection. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) estimates that 700,000 people in the U.S. are infected each year.

How you get it:
Gonorrhea is spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Gonorrhea infection can also be spread to other unlikely parts of the body. For example, a person can get an eye infection after touching infected genitals and then the eyes.
• Many women have very mild symptoms and do not know they have the STD until an infected partner informs them.
• Symptoms may include pain or burning during urination, frequent urination, and pain during intercourse.
• If the bacterium spreads to the uterus, women may develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which can cause in scarring of the fallopian tubes, greater risk of ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. In men, the bacterium may cause epididymitus (inflammation of the testicles) which can lead to infertility.

What about treatment?
Doctors prescribe antibiotic medications to treat gonorrhea, but more and more strains of gonorrhea are becoming drug resistant. If you are sexually active—SEE YOUR DOCTOR to rule out this infection.

For more information about Gonorrhea visit: CDC Mayo Clinic

HIV/AIDS

What is it?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, a virus that kills off your body's CD4 cells (or T-helper cells) that help your body fight off infection and disease. In the more than two decades since the first reports of the disease, AIDS has become a global epidemic. Worldwide, an estimated 38 million people are living with HIV, nearly half of them women and girls between the ages of 15 and 24. An estimated 950,000 Americans are currently living with HIV/AIDS, up from 900,000 in 2001. The disease is fatal.

How you get it:
Body fluids that are known to carry the HIV virus are blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, and other body fluids containing blood. Sexual contact and/or sharing needles with someone who is HIV positive are the most common ways that the virus is transmitted. Other body fluids that could transmit the virus to others would include the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, fluid surrounding the bone joints, and the amniotic fluid surrounding an unborn baby.
• When first infected with HIV, you may have no symptoms at all, although it's more common to develop a brief flu-like illness two to six weeks after becoming infected. With or without symptoms, the virus may be transmitted to sexual partners.
• Once the virus enters your body, your immune system comes under attack. The virus multiplies in your lymph nodes and slowly begins to destroy your helper T cells (CD4 lymphocytes) — the white blood cells that coordinate your entire immune system.
• You may remain symptom-free for 8 or 9 years or more. But the virus continues to multiply and destroy immune cells. Tests are likely to show a sharp decline in the number of these cells in your blood.
• Chronic symptoms usually include swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea, weight loss, fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
• During the last phase of HIV (approximately 10 or more years after the initial infection) more serious symptoms may begin to appear, and the infection may then meet the official definition of AIDS. By the time AIDS develops, your immune system has been severely damaged, making you susceptible to many devastating opportunistic infections as well as some cancers.

What about treatment?
There is no cure for AIDS. Drugs have been developed to help, but none of them can cure HIV/AIDS. Many of the new drugs have side effects that can be quite severe, and most are expensive. Antiretroviral therapy, the standard of care for most people living with AIDS, can cost more than $12,000 a year. The cost of treating side effects and complications can raise that amount considerably.

For more information about HIV/AIDS visit: CDC Mayo Clinic

Emotional Risks of premarital sex
You know the stories. You’ve seen your friends endure them. Maybe you’ve endured them yourself. Maybe you’ve just accepted that pain and hurt were part of the experience of dating. Maybe you believe the Hollywood storyline that premarital sex often leads to “happily ever after.” Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that lasting, monogamous love just isn’t realistic—that sex is just for fun. Maybe you’re just in the game for what you can get. Whatever your point of view, hold final judgment until you get the facts. Sex without marriage? Here’s some problems:Contracting an STD causes obvious emotional pain. Victims experience issues of trust and betrayal, grief and loss, guilt and shame, along with many others. Passing a disease on to a loved can be devastating to a relationship. The loss of life as it was without infection may cause overwhelming depression. Facing an early death from AIDS can decimate the emotional health of entire families.Dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, too, can cause obvious emotional pain. Grieving the loss of one’s adolescence, future plans and dreams, coping with the difficult choices, and dealing with intense feelings surrounding relationships involved may wreak havoc.Finally, hearts can be broken and hearts can be hardened by the loss of relationships that included physical bonding. Remember the costs. Respect yourself. Protect your emotional health.

Source: www.ahopecenter.org