"When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the past 10 years and everyone they and their partners have had sex with the last 10 years."
C. Everett Koop, M.D. Former U.S. Surgeon General.

WHAT?

Well, say you're 25. And say you tried sex for the first time when you were, oh, 15 or 16. Now, if you have had sex with 7 different people in that 10 years and each of those 7 people had sex with 7 people (This includes one night stands and party impulses.), that's like sleeping with 127 different people, exposing you to the sexual infections they might be carrying.

WEIRD.

Yeah, it's a different way to look at being sexually active. That's a lot of exposure to infections you DON'T want in your body. Imagine if you keep that up until you're 35.

LIKE WHAT KIND OF INFECTIONS?

There are several different kinds, some of which you've probably heard of. Let's start with the ones that are passed from one person to another through body fluids (blood, semen, mucus, saliva) during sex.

First of all, there's Chlamydia^1,2 . It's caused by bacteria and it's treatable but a woman doesn't always notice symptoms that will tell her that she has Chlamydia^1,2 and so it's doing damage even while there seems to be nothing wrong. Untreated, it can damage a woman's genital tract and lead to infertility.

Often there are symptoms which include abdominal pain, discharge, fever, unusual bleeding, itchiness and pain during urination.  

DOESN'T SOUND TOO SERIOUS.

It can be. All the time the bacteria are in a woman's body, they are damaging her genital tract and can leave her infertile if the infection is not treated. That means no babies if someday she and her partner want to conceive.

Then, there's Gonorrhoea^3,4,5.

WAIT A MINUTE. THAT'S AN OLD-TIME STD. I HEARD THAT THEY DEVELOPED DRUGS FOR THAT.

True. Gonorrhoea^3,4,5 is a treatable bacterial infection with many of the same symptoms as Chlamydia^1,2 - abdominal pain, discharge, burning urination, tenderness. The problem with gonorrhoea^3,4,5 is that it is beginning to become resistant to all the known antibiotics that doctors use to treat it⁶. It's another one of those infections that can lead to chronic health problems and infertility.

You've probably heard about Hepatitis B⁷.

YEAH, I THINK SO. ISN'T THAT THE ONE THAT AFFECTS YOUR LIVER?

Yes. It's a virus and there's no treatment for it. It can leave a person with a permanently damaged liver.

WOULD I KNOW IF I HAD IT?

Yes, you would. You would feel very, very tired and nauseated. You might notice changes when you urinated or had a bowel movement and your skin would turn yellow.

I know you've heard of HIV^8,12, right?

YEAH, BUT I KNOW THAT THERE ARE SOME GREAT DRUGS THAT HELP MAKE PEOPLE WITH HIV HEALTHY AGAIN.

Well, HIV^8,12 actually has no cure. The drugs used to treat HIV^8,12-positive people treat the symptoms of the disease but doesn't remove the virus from their bodies. There have been some studies that have concluded that, like you, lots of people think HIV^8,12 /AIDS isn't that big a problem anymore because it can be treated. Because of that mistake in their thinking, many people aren't as concerned about even using condoms, which puts them at greater risk than ever for contracting HIV ^8,12 or other fluid transferred infections.  And you know that HIV^8,12 can lead to AIDS, which is fatal.

LIKE, YOU DIE.

Yes, AIDS kills people of all different ages.

HARSH. SO, I SHOULD BE REALLY CAREFUL AND USE CONDOMS WHEN I HAVE SEX.

Funny thing about condoms. If you're using condoms in order not to become pregnant, condoms fail 1 in 8 times. If you're using condoms in order not to get a sexually transmitted infection, they fail more often than 1 in 8 times because the infection particles are way smaller than sperm, which is what a condom is designed to stop. So, if you go with that average, every 6 or so times you have sex with a condom, you could be exposing yourself to an infection^13,14. 

SO, THAT'S ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STI'S?

Well, no. That covers a bit of info on infections that are transmitted through bodily fluids. There are some very serious infections that are passed on by skin-to-skin contact. Condoms won't even help you here.

SKIN-TO-SKIN? LIKE, HOW?

Like by genital rubbing, mutual masturbation, oral sex, anal sex. Even if there is no exchange of body fluids, these activities put you at risk to contract both HERPES^9,10 AND HPV¹¹.

I'VE HEARD OF HERPES. THAT'S AN INFECTION THAT GIVES YOU SORES ON YOUR GENITALS.

Yes, that's right. Herpes^9,10 is a virus whose symptoms can be treated, but again, is a condition that cannot be cured. The sores are painful, and during an outbreak, the person with herpes feels like he or she has the flu, along with a burning sensation when urinating. Outbreaks can occur throughout a person's lifetime and can infect a sexual partner. In Canada, approximately 25% of sexually active people are infected with herpes.

I DON'T THINK I'VE HEARD MUCH ABOUT HPV. IT'S PRETTY RARE, I GUESS.

HPV¹¹ is an abbreviation for Human Papilloma Virus and no, it's not rare at all.  In fact, approximately 20-30% of sexually active people (even with just one partner) have HPV¹¹.

SO, LOTS OF PEOPLE GET IT, BUT MY FRIENDS ALL SEEM HEALTHY.  WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT HPV¹¹?

It's a serious infection. It can't be cured, even though the genital warts that grow can be removed. So, it lasts for life and it is a virus that is linked to cancer of the penis in men (which is rare), cancer of the cervix in women (which isn't rare at all, being one of the leading killers of women), cancer of the anus, mouth, and throat in both men and women. The other thing that you should know about HPV¹¹ is that, like other STI's it can be passed on to your child during birth and is linked to cancer of the eye in infants and toddlers.

THAT'S GROSS AND SCARY. ARE YOU JUST TRYING TO SCARE ME OUT OF HAVING A GOOD TIME?

No, not at all. We think it's awesome that you have the freedom and the capability to make choices about your life. We owe it to you to provide all the accurate information we can so that your choices are informed ones. The purpose here is to let you know the facts that medical researchers are discovering about teen sex and its effects on your health and your future goals. Many of these STI's are passed on unknowingly and don't present symptoms right away. Many people who know they have an STI don't share that information with their partner before sex, or ever. And many people think that when they use a condom, they are safe.  After all, that's what they have been taught. So, you may not have known until now that the decision to have sex as a teenager puts you in a dangerous position.  Think about it.

Citations:

1. Center for Disease Control, Chlamydia: Disease Information Fact Sheet, May, 2001
2. Cates, W. et al. "Estimates of the Incidence & Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the U.S.," Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 1999; 26(supply): S2-S7
3. Centre for Disease Control, Gonorrhoea: Disease Information Fact Sheet, May, 2001
4. Cates, 1999
5. Aral & Holmes, "STDs in the AIDS Era." Scientific American, February, 1991
6. Kirkey, S. "Resurging Gonorrhoea Bulldozes Antibiotics", Times-Colonist, July 14, 2003
7. CDC, Hepatitis B Fact Sheet, December, 2001
8. "Preventing AIDS: Have We Lost Our Way?," The Lancet, July, 1995
9. "Getting Smart about STDs," GD Searle, April, 1991
10. CDC, Genital Herpes Fact Sheet, May, 2001
11. CDC, Genital HPV Infection Fact Sheet, May, 2001
12. Royce, R, Sena, A, Cates, W & Cohen, M. "Sexual transmission of HIV," New England Journal of Medicine, 1997, 336:1072-1078
13. Myers, T. "Condom use and attitudes among heterosexual college students," Canadian Journal of Public Health, 1994: 85:53-55
14. David, K., & Weller, S. "The effectiveness of condoms in reducing heterosexual transmission of HIV," Family Planning Perspectives, 1999, 31: 272-279

107-1505 Admirals Road
Victoria, British Columbia
V9A 2P8

e-mail:  info@optionspregnancy.org
phone:   250-380-6883

Copyright © 2005 Options Pregnancy Centre
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer

Web hosting provided by MyUniserve

OPTIONS PREGNANCY CENTRE