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The Reality of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
3 million sexually active teens are infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) each year in the U.S. That's 8,000 each day!
Viral STDs are incurable. Several, including AIDS and Hepatitis B (can cause liver cancer), can kill you.
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One
in five U.S. adults have genital herpes, a viral STD which causes
painful sores and blisters. Can be treated, but not cured. Condoms
provide very limited protection against herpes and hpv (see next)
because these are spread from skin to skin (or skin to sore) contact,
not just in the area covered by a condom.
Human papilloma
virus (hpv) causes genital warts which often reoccur after removal. Can
cause cervical cancer in women. Girls who have sex as teenagers have an
800% higher risk for cervical cancer as adults than girls who wait
until 20s. |
Millions
of Americans are infected with gonorrhea or chlamydia each year. May
cause burning, itching or unusual discharge in genital area. Can be
cured, but 70% of women have no symptoms and don't seek treatment. Can
cause tubal damage in women leading to sterility. Sexually active
teens, young 20s have highest rates of infection. Condoms provide
little or no protection for these two STDs because condoms don't cover
all the parts that can become infected.
Syphilis is an STD
spread by a germ called a spirochete. It can be cured, but without
treatment it spreads to the heart, eyes, or brain, causing arthritis,
paralysis, blindness, or death. Can cause serious birth defects or even
kill the birthchild.
 Estimates of HIV Infected World Wide
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North
America: 900,000. Latin America & Caribbean 2,000,000. Western
Europe 600,000. N.Africa/ Middle East 210,000. Sub-Saharan Africa
21,000,000. Eastern Europe & Central Asia 150,000. East Asia/
Pacific 440,000. South/Southeast Asia 6,000,000.
45,000,000 World Wide Estimate of HIV Infected which includes 12,000,000 AIDS deaths. |
HIV,
the virus that causes AIDS, is spread primarily through sexual contact
and sharing of injecting drug needles. It has infected an estimated 45
million worldwide with 12 million already dead. In December, 1997
UNAIDS and the World Health Organization doubled their estimate of the
number of people infected worldwide with HIV to 16,000 per day. 1,600
children are infected each day. 1,200 children die from AIDS-related
complications.
Many
of those who develop AIDS in their 20s were infected as teenagers. In
the first stage of HIV infection which lasts 10 years on average, there
are no visible signs or symptoms so it isn't possible to tell if
someone is infected without an HIV blood test. Half die within 2-3
years after developing AIDS; 80% die within 4-5 years.
Use
of latex condoms reduces the risk of infection with HIV/AIDS but
doesn't eliminate risk. A Johns Hopkins Medical School journal reported
in 1995 that among couples in which the man was already HIV-infected,
consistent condom use reduced HIV infection from 50% of women who
became infected who never or seldom used condoms during 17 months to
23% of women who used condoms every time who became infected. Condom
use provides partial risk reduction and is not "safe." Sex with condoms
is not "protected."
Other facts you should think about:
54% of teens who have had sex regretted it and wished they'd waited.
Roper/Starch Worldwide poll, May 1994
Pediatrics
journal has reported that sexually active girls have a six times
greater risk to attempt suicide than girls who are virgins which points
to the emotional stress/anxiety that many girls experience when they
become sexually involved.
Remember, if you don't have sex
as a teenager, you still have an average of 40 years to have sex!
Possibly with someone who really loves you and is capable of making a
commitment to you! What's the rush? Sexual intimacy will wait for you!
A message from Free Teens USA, Inc., a non-profit educational organization.
Read: Condom Nation: Blind Faith, Bad Science
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