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SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS (STI) EPIDEMIC

• A minimum of sixty-five million Americans have an incurable sexually-transmitted infection.

• Almost 1,000,000 Americans have HIV and 20% do not know they have the disease.

• South Carolina ranks 8th in the nation in men and 9th in women in the number of new AIDS cases per capita.

• South Carolina ranks #7 in the United States for Chlamydia in women.

• Chlamydia is the #1 cause of blindness in kids.

• South Carolina ranks #12 in the nation for infectious Syphilis.

• While condoms can reduce the risk for some STI’s, in no case is it 100% effective in preventing any infections – and for some illnesses such as HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) there is no conclusive evidence that condoms are effective at reducing transmission of the virus at all.

• South Carolina ranks #3 in the per capita number of new cases of Gonorrhea.

• Some of the worst side effects of STI’s are not physical. Teenage boys who are sexually active are 5 times more likely to attempt suicide than boys who are abstinent. Teenage girls are almost 3 times as likely to try to kill themselves than their abstinent counterparts.

Source: Palmetto Family Council (U S Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC)

• There are over 25 Sexually-Transmitted Infections. The most common ones are:

I. Bacterial Sexually-Transmitted Infections	Prevention
o Chlamydia	Abstain from sex
o Gonorrhea	Abstain from sex
o Syphilis	Abstain from sex
o Trichomoniasis – parasite	Abstain from sex
II. Viral Sexually-Transmitted Infections	Prevention
o Genital Herpes	Abstain from sex
o Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)	Abstain from sex
o Hepatitis B	Abstain from sex
o HIV/AIDS	Abstain from sex

Source: US Department of Health and Human Services

For more information check out the Medical Institute For Sexual Health

NOTE: “When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last 10 years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years.”
C. Everett Koop, Former US Surgeon General

The only 100% foolproof way to avoid STI’s and unplanned pregnancy is to abstain from sex until marriage with an uninfected partner! For additional information, check out Abigail Women's Clinic