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Did you know:

  • 41,000 new cases cases of STD's every day in the U.S.
  • 5 of the 10 most common diseases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are STDs
  • Cancer is linked to certain STDs
  • Some STDs are not curable, some are fatal
  • An STD can change your life forever.

STDs are a silent epidemic

  • 50-80% of those infected don't know it
  • Those who don't know it, don't often tell
  • Infections with no symptoms can still be spread

STDs are sexist!

  • STDs in women are more severe and leave more damage behind than STDs in men
  • The female body has a direct route from outside the body to vital organs on the inside
  • Only women get PID (pelvic inflammatory disease), which can produce terrible internal damage, sterility, even death
  • The probably cause of almost all cervical cancer in young women is an extremely common STD, the human papilloma virus (HPV).
  • Many women won't find out their female organs have been destroyed until they try to have a baby. Then it's too late!

Common viral (incurable) STDs are:

  • Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) - Causes easily spread warts, genital cancers in both sexes. Warts are difficult to get rid of, and HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer.
  • Genital Herpes - Recurrent painful genital blisters. The disease can be spread even when no symptoms are present. Genital herpes is life-threatening for babies born to a mother with a fresh outbreak.
  • Hapatitis B - 10 times more infectious than HIV, and is a commong cause of liver cancer. This disease produces symptomless carriers and a mother can transmit this to her baby.
  • HIV/AIDS - HIV is contagious from the time acquired, even if someone doesn't test positive. A mother may transmit HIV to her baby while pregnant or through breastmilk. HIV almost always end in AIDS. AIDS always end in death.

Common bacterial (possibly curable) STDs are:

  • Syphilis - Produces a very contagious sore, called a chancre, the disappears untreated, yet the disease is only dormant. Reappears as months and years go by with serious results: blindness, insanity, bone and heart damage, even death. A mother can transmit this to her baby while pregnant.
  • Gonorrhea - Pus-producing infection that can also affect other parts of the body, such as the rectum, eyes, heart, throat, joints and brain.
  • Chlamydia - Usually mild or no symptoms. Can cause sterility in women and permanent damage to the male urinary tract.
  • Pelvic inflammatory disease - Female disease caused by another infection (usuallly chlamydia or gonorrhea ) that travels up the reporductive tract to the pelvis and abdominal cavity. Can result in chronic pain, sterility, tubal pregnancy and death.

Insects/Parasites:

  • Pubic lice - Insects adhere to the pubic hair and are passes along during sexual intercourse. Insects produce re, pimply areas that can become infected.
  • Scabies - Mite that burrows into skin causing re, itching areas that can become infected. Also passed by infested bedding and clothing.
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