Immorality’s Plague

What are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are diseases that are mainly passed from one person to another (that is transmitted) during sex. There are at least 25 different sexually transmitted diseases with a range of different symptoms. These diseases may be spread through vaginal, anal and oral sex.

Most sexually transmitted diseases will only affect you if you have sexual contact with someone who has an STD. However there are some infections, for example scabies, which are referred to as STDs because they are most commonly transmitted sexually, but which can also be passed on in other ways.

What are sexually transmitted infections (STIs)?

Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) is another name for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). The name STI is sometimes preferred because there are a few STDs, such as chlamydia, that can infect a person without causing any actual disease (i.e. unpleasant symptoms). Someone without symptoms may not think of themselves as having a disease, but they may still have an infection that needs treating.

• Chlamydia: The most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States; a bacterial infection easily cured with antibiotics; it often does not have visible symptoms. For young men, untreated chlamydia generally does not present complications, but 40 percent of women who do not treat the disease will develop pelvic inflammatory disease—a condition that causes 50,000 U.S. women to become infertile each year.
• Gonorrhea: Also easily cured, but if left untreated, can lead to infertility in women. In men, gonorrhea can cause epididymitis, a painful infection in the tissue around the testicles that can cause sterility.
• Syphilis: Causes sores on the infected area, usually genitalia; highly infectious and easily treated in its early stages. If untreated, it can lead to brain, cardiovascular and organ damage, and even death. In pregnant women, if untreated, syphilis can be spread to the infant—causing stillbirth, death shortly after birth, physical deformity and neurological complications.
• Herpes: Causes a reoccurring viral outbreak of blisters, generally occurring on the genitals or rectum. The blisters will usually turn into sores that may take two to four weeks to heal. The viral infection can remain in the body indefinitely, but outbreaks are usually less frequent with subsequent years.
• AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a medical condition. People develop AIDS because HIV has damaged their natural defences against disease.HIV is a virus. Viruses infect the cells that make up the human body and replicate (make new copies of themselves) within those cells. A virus can also damage human cells, which is one of the things that can make a person ill. HIV can be passed from one person to another. Someone can become infected with HIV through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who already has HIV.

What causes STD?