Download Fact vs Fiction

STIs and you.
 Turn and talk to the people around
you about the following questions:
 What do you think is the most
common STI?
 Who is at the highest risk to get an
STI?
 How do people get STIs?


In the past few decades, the number of teens
contracting STIs has risen DRAMATICALLY,
mostly due to UNSAFE SEXUAL PRACTICES
This is due to:
 Preference (condom vs no condom)
 Peer pressure
 Misinformed or uninformed
 Fact or fiction:
You would be able to tell if someone
else had an STI because there would
be blisters, sores, warts, or other
visible signs of infection.
 Fact or fiction:
You would be able to tell if someone else had an
STI because there would be blisters, sores, warts,
or other visible signs of infection.
FACT:
Some STIs have NO VISIBLE
signs; the person can be a
carrier and never manifest signs
of infection. The person may
not even be aware they have an
STI.
 Fact or fiction:
Only homosexual men or
promiscuous women contract STIs.
 Fact or fiction:
Only homosexual men or promiscuous women
contract STIs.
Fact: While it was believed in the 80s that
HIV/Aids was only found in male homosexual
relationships, this is not true. Anyone can
contract an STI, regardless of race, age, or
sexual orientation.
 Fact or fiction:
In order to get an STI, you must
engage in sexual intercourse.
 Fact or fiction:
In order to get an STI, you must engage in sexual
intercourse.
Fact: There are many ways to contract and
transmit STIs. The most obvious is engaging
in either vaginal or anal intercourse.
However, both oral and digital sex can also
result in infection. Any exchange of bodily
fluids of any sort is an opportunity for
infection.
Common STIs include:
 Hepatitis B and C
 HIV/AIDS virus
 Chlamydia
 Gonorrhea
 Genital Warts
 Herpes
 Pubic Lice
 HPV (Human Paplova
Virus)
While there are cures to some STIs, HIV/AIDS is one of
the more serious ones and there is, as of yet, no
known cure.
 AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV). HIV destroys a type of defense cell in the
body called a CD4 helper lymphocyte (pronounced:
lim-fuh-site). These lymphocytes are part of the
body's immune system, the defense system that
fights infectious diseases.
 But as HIV destroys these lymphocytes, people with
the virus begin to get serious infections that they
normally wouldn't — that is, they become immune
deficient. The name for this condition is acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).


Hundreds of U.S. teens become infected with
HIV each year. HIV can be transmitted from
an infected person to another person through
blood, semen (also known as "cum," the fluid
released from the penis when a male
ejaculates), vaginal fluids, and breast milk.
The virus is spread through high-risk behaviors including:
 unprotected oral, vaginal, or anal sexual intercourse
("unprotected" means not using a condom)
 sharing needles, such as needles used to inject drugs (including
needles used for injecting steroids) and those used for tattooing
 People who have another sexually transmitted disease, such as
syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, or bacterial
vaginosis are at greater risk for getting HIV during sex with
infected partners.
 If a woman with HIV is pregnant, her newborn baby can catch the
virus from her before birth, during the birthing process, or from
breastfeeding. If doctors know an expectant mother has HIV, they
can usually prevent the spread of the virus from mother to baby. All
pregnant teens and women should be tested for HIV so they can
begin treatment if necessary.





Use a condom every time you have sex,
including oral sex.
Do NOT have a lot of different partners.
Do NOT share injection needles, syringes, or
other injection equipement.
Do NOT share razors or tooth brushes.
REMEMBER, there is NO CURE, only
preventions.