Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Sexually transmitted diseases that can be passed between people during sexual contact have plagued humankind throughout history. The two main venereal diseases in the United States have traditionally been gonorrhea and syphilis. Scientists now know that many other diseases can be passed during sex. More than thirty sexually transmitted diseases have been identified. The names of such sexually transmitted diseases as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and gonorrhea are known to most people; however, other sexually transmitted diseases such as trichomoniasis and genital candidiasis may not be as familiar. Some sexually transmitted diseases affect only a few people or do not cause life-threatening problems. Other sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea and chlamydial infections, affect many people or cause severe health damage. Sexually transmitted diseases are a major health problem throughout the world. In the United States sexually transmitted diseases strike an estimated 20 million people each year, or an average of one person every 1.5 seconds. About one half of sexually transmitted diseased patients are under the age of 25. Nearly 2.5 million teenagers are infected with a sexually transmitted disease each year.
The health problems caused by sexually transmitted diseases seem endless. The diseases can cause arthritis, sterility, nervous system damage, heart disease, and death. Women and infants suffer the most damage from sexually transmitted diseases. For example, each year more than 1 million women suffer from pelvic inflammatory disease resulting from gonorrheal or chlamydial infections. About 200,000 of these women become sterile each year. More than 300,000 babies are injured or die each year from sexually transmitted diseases.
Sexually transmitted diseases are caused by a variety of organisms that include bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and very small insects such as Phthirus pubis, or pubic lice. These organisms usually...
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