Condoms and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Brochure

A Condom Could Save Your Life!

 

This t is to help you understand why it's important to use condoms (rubbers, prophylactics) to help reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. These diseases include HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), chlamydia, genital herpers, genital warts, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, and syphilis. You can get them through having sex -- vaginal, anal, or oral.
The surest way to avoid these diseases is to not have sex altogether (abstinence). Another way is to limit sex to one partner who also limits his or her sex in the same way (monogamy). Condoms are not 100% safe, but if used properly, will reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. Protecting yourself against the AIDS virus is of special concern becuase this disease is fatal and has no cure.
About two-thirds of the people with AIDS in the United States got the disease during sexual intercourse with an infected partner. Experts believe that many of these people could have avoided the disease by using condoms.
Condoms are used for both birth control and reducing the risk of disease. That's why some people think that other forms of birth control -- such as the IUD, diaphragm, cervical cap or pill -- will protect them against diseases, too. But that's not true. So if you use any other form of birth control, you still need a condom in addition to reduce the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases.
A condom is especially important when an uninfected pregnant woman has sex, because it can also help protect her and her unborn child from a sexually transmitted disease.
Note well: Condoms are not 100% safe, but if used properly, will reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.

Facts about Sexually Transmitted Diseases

• Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) affect 12 million men and women in the United States each year.
• Anyone can become infected through sexual intercourse with an infected person.
• Many of those infected are teenagers or young adults.
• Changing sexual partners adds to the risk of becoming infected.
• Sometimes, early in the infection, there may be no symptoms, or symptoms may be easily confused with other illnesses.

Sexually transmitted diseases can cause:

• Tubal pregnancies, sometimes fatal to the mother and always fatal to the unborn child
• Death or severe damage to a baby born to an infected woman
• Sterility (loss of ability to get pregnant)
• Cancer of the cervix in women
• Damage to other parts of the body, including the heart, kidneys, and brain
• Death to infected individuals

See a doctor if you have any of these symptoms of STDs:

• Discharge from the vagina, penis, and/or rectum
• Pain or burning during urination and/or intercourse
• Pain in the abdomen (women), testicles (men), and buttocks and legs (both)
• Blisters, open sores, warts, rash, and/or swelling in the genital area, sex organs, and/or mouth
• Flu-like symptoms, including fever, headache, aching muscles, and/or swollen glands

You can get more information about preventing sexually transmitted diseases by calling the National AIDS Hotline, the National Sexually Transmitted Diseases Hotline, or your state or local hotlines.

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