By Susan Browing Pogany
One false move and you're infected
"I always though of myself as a clean person. I shower every day.
My girlfriend was clean. In fact, she was beautiful. But she gave me
gonorrhea. I couldn't believe it. Now I feel dirty, like I'm infested
with bugs or something. "
"I hadn't known Tim very long, but he was such a gorgeous guy, I
let myself go. I thought about using some kind of protection, but what
was I supposed to do - stop everything and order him to put on a condom?
He probably would have gotten mad. I was on the Pill anyway. So it just
seem easier to forget it. A month later, I had genital warts. It's been
horrible."
a young girl explains, "I could swear I never had any sign that I
had a disease down there. No irritation, no pus - nothing! Then I
started having this awful pain in my stomach. I tried to ignore it but
it got so terrible I had to see a doctor. I was really sick. She said I
had chlamydia, that I'd probably had it along time without knowing it.
It infected me deep inside, and now I may never be able to have kids. I
still can't believe this happen to me."
MORE THAN TWENTY-FIVE DISEASES ARE SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED.
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) spread from one person to
another during sexual intercourse or close body contact - contact
involving the penis, vagina, rectum, or mouth. The Sexual Revolution has
brought about an epidemic of STDs.
STDs spread faster among teenagers than any other group. Any
teen - rich, poor, black, white, city or country dweller - can get an
STDs. STDs can make you very sick, can kill you, and can make you unable
to have children. They can be transmitted to babies during childbirth,
causing blindness, retardation, and death. Many teens with STDs have no
ideas they are infected and, therefore, do not seek treatment. They
continue, unknowingly, to spread these diseases.
Some STDs can be treated and cured. Some cannot be cured. Some
are developing a resistance to antibiotics. Some STDs cause sore in your
genital area that give HIV/AIDS an easy entry point into your body.
Every year, three million teenagers get an STD. If you are
sexually active, there's a fifty - fifty chance you'll get an STD by age
twenty-five.
It is estimated that one out of four sexually active teenage
girls has an STD. Women catch these diseases more easily than men due to
body differences. During unprotected intercourse with an infected
partner, women are twice as likely to catch some STDs, including
chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Because STDs are harder to detect in women, many women are
unaware they are infected until their reproductive systems are so
damaged that they can never have children.
The younger the girl, the more susceptible she is to these
infections. This may because the cervix (the opening to the uterus). is
immature and because the girl has fewer protective. antibodies.
There no way to know if your partner is free from infection.
They may not be truthful with you, may be too embarrassed to tell you,
or may have a disease and not know it. In fact, your partner could have
two sexually transmitted diseases at the same time and not know it.
The only sure way of protecting your self against STDs is to
abstain from vaginal, anal, and oral sex. If condom with spermicides
were used during every sexual intercourse by teenagers, they would
provide fairly good protection, but it is a fact that many teens do not
use condom consistently. The following are a few of the most common
STDs.
Chlamydia
Chlamydia is the number one STD in the US. Each year there are
four million new cases - that's 11,000 new cases every day! The
chlamydia microorganism can attack the reproductive systems of both men
and women. Many victims have no symptoms and don't seek treatment. They
continue to infect others.
Every year one out of seven girls and one out of ten boys is infected with chlamydia.
Chlamydia symptoms may include burning, itching, discharge from
the vaginal or penis, burning urination, abdominal or lower back pain,
fever, and pain and swelling in the testicles. Seventy- five percent of
women and 25 percent of men have no symptoms until this infection has
caused serious complications.
Chlamydia symptoms may include burning, itching, discharge from
the vagina or penis, burning urination, abdominal or lower back pain,
fever, and pain and swelling in the testicles. Seventy-five percent of
women and 25 percent of men have no symptoms until this infection has
caused serious complications.
Chlamydia damages the reproductive systems of both young men and
women and can cause sterility or infertility - the inability to have
children in the future. Chlamydia can lead to infections of a girl's
cervix and fallopian tubes (the tubes where sperm meet egg), causing,
scarring, infertility, sterility.
Chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID -
discussed below), a serious and painful illness. Victims can end up with
ongoing, long-term pelvic pain. PID can cause infertility and ectopic
pregnancy.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg implants
someplace other than the uterus - usually a fallopian tube. The
fertilized egg may begin developing in the tube. (This is called a tubal
pregnancy.) If left untreated, the tube will burst. This can result in
the woman's death. Chlamydia infection can be transmitted from mother to
infant during birth, leading to eye infection and possible blindness,
pneumonia, and ear infections.
While using condoms with spermicides will help prevent the spread
of chlamydia, a very high number of sexually active teens do not use
condoms, even though they know they should. Therefore, they are at great
risk of catching and spreading this disease. You can eliminate your
risk by abstaining from sex.
PID (pelvic inflammatory disease)
PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) affects a million women per
year. The highest rate of infection is among teenagers. It is caused by
different microorganisms, including gonorrhea and chlamydia, and can
infect a woman's uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes.
Symptoms include abdominal pain and tenderness, nausea, vomiting,
chills, fever, and vaginal discharge and bleeding. Some women have no
symptoms, but damage still occurs. Sexually active girls are at risk for
this disease, which can be extremely serious, even fatal.
PID cause inflammation and scarring of the fallopian tubes, which
may lead to an ectopic pregnancy. A bad PID infection can require
hospitalization and can cause sterility within a few weeks.
Even though PID can be cured with antibiotics, it may already
have caused irreversible damage to a girl's reproductive system before
she begins taking antibiotics.
Because sexually active teens often forget to use condoms or are
too embarrassed to use them, they are at risk of getting PID. Teens who
do not have sex are less likely to get a PID infection.
NGU (nongonococcal urethritis)
NGU (nongonococcal urethritic) is usually associated with male
symptoms, but the organisms (such as chlamydia) that cause NGU can
easily be transmitted to women.
Boys with NGU may experience burning and itching around the
opening of the penis, burning urination, and discharge from the penis.
If untreated NGU can lead to scarring of the urethra, causing problems
with urination and ejaculation. Infection of the testicles can cause a
boy to become sterile.
HPV (human papilloma virus)
Genital warts are caused by some types of types of HIV (human
papilloma virus). Each year there are a million new cases of genital
warts.
Up to 90 percent of teens who have unprotected sex with an
infected person will get HPV. It may take as long as eight months for
the warts to develop. They appear as hard, wrinkled, cauliflower-shaped
bumps on the inner thighs, genital or anal areas. They can multiply
quickly. They are treated with laser surgery, chemicals, and liquid
nitrogen, but there no real cure. The virus can lie dormant in the cells
and cause recurrent flare-ups of warts.
If an infant is exposed to HPV during birth, it is possible for
the virus to lodge in the child's larynx, windpipe, and lungs,
eventually causing serious breathing problems.
Some types of HPV are link to cervical cancer in women. Cervical
cancer kills thousands of women every year. Some experts say that girls
who become sexually active before eighteen are more likely to develop
cervical cancer from HPV than women who postpone sex. One study of
college women found that one out of four women developed some form of
HPV within a year of becoming sexually active.
Generally, you can avoid HPV by avoiding skin-to-skin vaginal,
anal, or oral sex. Condom use during intercourse is helpful, though not
completely effective in preventing the transmission of HPV. The best way
to keep from getting this disease is to abstain from sex.
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is highly contagious. There may be as many as
three-quarters of a million teenagers with gonorrhea. Ninety percent of
women with gonorrhea don't know they have it and unknowingly pass it on
to partner after partner. Twenty percent of male victims are unaware
they are infected.
Symptoms may include discharge from the penis or vagina, burning
urination, and, in girls, cramps and abnormal periods. But there may be
NO symptoms
The gonorrhea bacterium can cause skin lesions, damage to the
eyes, crippling arthritis, damage to the heart valves, and can result in
stroke and heart failure. Gonorrhea can cause sterility in both sexes.
In women, gonorrhea can result in pelvic in inflammatory
disease. Each year, 100,000 women in the U.S. are made sterile by
gonorrhea.
In men, gonorrhea can cause scarring in the urethra, which
carries urine and semen to the penis. Painful ejaculation and extremely
painful urination can result; later it may become impossible for the
infected person to urinate. Even when no symptoms are present, the
prostate and testicles can become badly infected, and sterility can
result.
Gonorrhea has been linked to cancer of the prostate in men. It
can cause impotence (the inability to perform normal sexual sexual
intercourse). It is estimated that having gonorrhea increases the
possibility of catching AIDS from an infected person by as much as 100
times.
The best way to avoid gonorrhea is to abstain from sexual
activity. Condoms and spermicide will reduce the chance of spreading
this disease, yet teens who know better often do not use protection.
Syphilis
Syphilis is call "a silent killer." It is caused by a highly
contagious, spiral-shape bacterium that enters the body, usually during
sexual intercourse. It can also be transmitted by kissing, so NEVER kiss
anyone with a sore on their mouth!
The first sign of syphilis is a painless blister, or chancre, on
the genitals at the site of entry. This chancre may develop a month
after sexual intercourse and usually disappears within a few weeks. The
victim may be unaware of its existence.
During the second stage of syphilis, there may or may not be
symptoms. Symptoms might include a sore throat, fever, headache, or skin
rash. The victim might not think much of these symptoms.
During the early part of the third stage of syphilis causes heart
disease, blindness, deafness, paralysis, insanity, and death.
Treatment for syphilis requires antibiotics. Some victims, unaware of their infections, go untreated.
Babies can be infected with syphilis during childbirth, resulting in blindness, brain damage, and death.
Condoms and spermicides used consistently are good protection
against syphilis. However, the surest way for teenagers to avoid
syphilis is to abstain from sex.
Herpes
Genital herpes is an incurable STD. One out of every five
Americans over age twelve has herpes. The more sexual partners you have,
the more likely you are to catch it. Sexually active teens are at great
risk.
Once herpes enters your body, it never leaves. You have it for life.
Herpes is spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
It is often said that an infected individual can transmit the
disease to a partner only when there is an active outbreak of herpes
sores present. This is not true. The disease can also be transmitted in
the twenty-four hours before the sores erupt, and the infected
individual may be unaware that an outbreak is about to occur. Herpes can
also be spread by carries who have no idea they are infected.
During an outbreak of herpes, the victim may experience inflamed
skin, bumps or blisters in the genital area, pain, itching, burning,
flu-like symptoms, swollen glands muscle aches, headache, infection of
the urethra, and burning urination. On average, herpes victims
experience four recurrences of recurrences of symptoms in a year. The
virus may sometimes relocate to the buttocks.
During those periods when the victim has no symptoms, the herpes
virus can reside at the base of the skull or spine. Outbreaks may be
triggered by vigorous sexual activity, diet, stress, illness, and
menstruation.
The use of condoms is not a guarantee of protection against
herpes, because sores can be present in areas not covered by a condom.
The presence of genital herpes sores makes it easier for HIV and other DTDs to find an entry point in the genital area.
In pregnant women, herpes causes an increased risk of premature
birth and miscarrage. Infants born to mothers with herpes may suffer
skin blisters, brain and organ infections, mental retardation, birth
defects, and death. More than half of these babies are born to mothers
who do not realize that they are infected with herpes.
Herpes affects its victims not only physically but also
emotionally. Those infected may experience panic, fear, depression, and
feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness.
Considering the fact that forty million Americans have this
disease, the only way for teens to eliminate their risk of catch it is
to abstain from sex. Because of embarrassment, teenagers who are
infected with herpes are not likely to tell their potential partners.
They may use poor judgment about selecting times they think are safe for
sexual activity. If they misjudge, they infect their partners.
Scabies and public lice
Scabies and lice are small insects that can be passed from one
person to the next during close contact. They are highly contagious and
can cause intense itching.
Public lice look like microscopic crabs. They are bloodsuckers.
Scabies burrow beneath human skin to lay eggs. Scratching these
irritated area can lead to other infection.
Shattered lives
There are thirteen million new STD cases in the U.S.every
year. But this is only a statistic. It cannot describe the physical
pain or feelings of despair and depression that STD victim experience.
Later in life, when STD victims marry and try to begin a family,
some discover that they are infertile, unable to have children. The
diagnosis of infertility can threaten the survival of their marriage.
One partner may feel angry and betrayed by the other. Both feel cheated
out of their natural right to reproduce and care for a family.
A woman writes to columnist Ann Landers describing the result of the "casual attitude" she once had about sex:
Dear Ann:
I am a thirty-four-year-old married women who is trying to
become pregnant, but it doesn't look promissing. All I have ever wanted
in life was to be mother, but I don't know if I will ever be able to
have a child because of my past.
When I was in college, I became sexually active. I slept with
more men than I care to admit....Somewhere in my wild days, I picked up
an infection that left me infertile......It seems the scar tissue
damaged the in side of my fallopian tubes ......I am now married to
wonderful man who very much wants children, and the guide I feel is
overwhelming ......I am writing this letter with the hope that I can
save others the heartache that I am going through.
- Suffering in St. Louis
Fifteen to 30 percent of U.S.couples who can't have children were made infertile by STDs.
Teens considering becoming sexual active should think very
carefully about the risks of STDs - for themselves, for the baby that
could result from an accident pregnancy, and for their future marriage.
By abstaining from sexual activity, you can avoid the heartache of
sexual transmitted disease.
