The Center for Disease Control has named April as STD awareness month. Sexually transmitted diseases (also referred to as sexually transmitted infections, or STIs) are at an epidemic level in the United States. Young people ages 15-24 account for nearly half of all new infections, making them especially vulnerable to contracting a disease that can have a huge effect on their health and their futures.
How STDs Are Transmitted
A sexually transmitted disease can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact or through body fluids, depending on the type of disease. While condoms do lower the risk of some STDs, it’s important to know that they cannot completely protect you and your partner from some STDs, like herpes, syphilis, or human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes genital warts and cervical cancer. Also, condoms can break, slip, or leak, especially if they are not put on and taken off properly.
Untreated STDs Can Cause Severe Health Conditions
STDs are both viral and bacterial. While bacterial diseases can be treated, the antibiotics will not reverse any damage to internal organs that the STD may have caused. For example, chlamydia is the leading cause of infertility in the United States today. Although chlamydia is an easily treatable bacterial infection, most people who contract chlamydia do not experience symptoms, leading them to delay treatment. Even without symptoms, the disease can damage a woman’s reproductive system.
Viral STDs cannot be cured. In some cases, your body can fight off a minor viral infection. In other cases (such as with herpes), once a person contracts a viral STD, he or she will have it for a lifetime.
Preventing and Testing for STDs
If you are sexually active, it is important that you regularly test for STDs. Keep in mind, there are several STDs that rarely exhibit symptoms but still have severe health ramifications if left untreated. This is why testing is so important.
The CDC recommends sexually active women younger than 25 receive testing on an annual basis for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Selah offers free STD testing and treatment* for chlamydia and gonorrhea.
The CDC also recommends that any sexually active individual receive at least one test for HIV in their lifetime.
Schedule an Appointment
Are you sexually active? Concerned you may have been exposed to an STD? Are you planning an abortion in the near future? All of these are reasons to get tested. Learn more about why and how to schedule your STD test at Selah completely free of charge. Selah does not refer for or provide abortion services or the abortion pill. Alternatively, Selah provides free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STD testing and treatment, and additional educational and material support services.
*Note: STD Testing & Treatment services are temporarily unavailable at Selah.