It’s Taboo, It’s Important, It’s STD Awareness Month

April is a fantastic month when plants bloom, people come out of their homes with squinty eyes, and the birds meet the bee’s. That means of course, it’s STD awareness month in the USA.

The statistics are mind boggling with over one quarter of the population having been infected with an STD by the time they’re fifty. It isn’t however very surprising given the poor sexual education and increasingly scary promiscuity among teens and young adults.

Their are quite a few different STD’s being passed around, but right now we’ll go over the more “popular” diseases and infections that can be caught with unsafe sexual behavior and some statistics that may help frighten you into slowing down when that bird meets that bee.

Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are two very similar sexually transmitted diseases that can have little to no symptoms. In 2007 there were over 1.4 million cases according to a new federal report by the Center of Disease Control which makes these two diseases one of the biggest threats to sexually active people. It is recommended, because symptoms can be so mild that women get tested yearly for both diseases. If left untreated it can result in pelvic inflammatory disease which leaves 50,000 women left infertile each year.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is another STD that has been spreading extremely fast because of lack of symptoms. with over a hundred different strains this cancer causing disease has hit around 22% of the population and even though a new vaccine was introduced in 2006 numbers remain high. Most strains cause no visible symptoms while a half of a dozen may cause warts on the genitals.

Herpes Simplex virus 2 is another quite common disease that infects around 18% of the population similar to cold sores many people experience on the lips and mouth. Prevention methods are few and no vaccine has been approved as of yet.

There are many more diseases that can be transmitted sexually and more information can be found at your local clinic family doctor, or state offices. Protection, education, and limiting partners are the only way we will see a decrease in these world wide diseases.

For more information and credits please visit

• The Center For Disease Control STD section.
• The online STD Information Organization With a free clinic finder and support group.
• Avert.org An HIV and Aids organization.