10 Important Facts About STDs

1.

Unprotected anal intercourse with a partner whose status for STIs/STDs is unknown is the most common way to contract an STD.

2.

The first hospital for venereal disease was the London Lock Hospital in 1746. Treatment was not always voluntary.

3.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) used to be called GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) in 1982. It was renamed the same year.

4.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is currently the fastest growing STI/STD.

5.

Chlyamida is Greek for “cloak” because early researchers believed the disease “cloaked” the nucleus of an infect cell. Chlamydia is found only in human cells, though it shares a common ancestor with plants and exhibits unusual plant-like traits.

6.

STIs/STDs cannot be acquired in a swimming or public bathroom unless you have sex in the pool or on the toilet.

7.

The only STD that affects more men than women is syphilis.

8.

The rate at which HIV becomes AIDS varies greatly among individuals. Some who contract HIV develop AIDS very soon after; in others, full-blown AIDS won’t develop for 10 or more years.

9.

Though one in five Americans has genital herpes, nearly 90% are unaware they have it.

10.

Al Capone had syphilis and it may have driven him mad. Other notable people who most likely suffered from syphilis include Hernando Cortez, Benito Mussolini, Friedrich Nietzsche, Edourd Manet and Napoleon.