How STD's Spread

One reason STD's spread is because people think they need to have sexual intercourse to become infected. That's wrong. A person can get some STD's, like herpes or genital warts, through skin-to-skin contact with an infected area or sore. Another myth about STD's is that you can't get them if you have oral or anal sex. That's also wrong because the viruses or bacteria that cause STD's can enter the body through tiny cuts or tears in the mouth and anus, as well as the genitals.

STD's also spread easily because you can't tell whether someone has an infection. In fact, some people with STD's don't even know that they have them. These people are in danger of passing an infection on to their sexual partner(s) without even realising it.

The most common way of spreading STD's is through unprotected sex. Latex condoms are the only form of birth control that lessen your risk of contracting an STD. Spermicides, diaphragms, and other birth control methods may help prevent pregnancy, but they don't protect a person against STD's. STD's are more easily transmitted through the membranes of the penis, vulva, and sometimes the mouth. The visible membrane covering the head of the penis is called a mucous membrane, though it produces no mucus (similar to the lips of the mouth). Mucous membranes operate differently from our regular skin because they allow pathogens (an agent that causes disease, especially a living microorganism such as a bacterium or fungus) into the body that would not normally be able to get in easily through normal skin. This is why using protection during sex is always important in fighting STD's.

Mucous membranes allowing pathogens into our body is one reason that the probability of transmitting many infections is far higher from sex than by more casual means of transmission, such as non-sexual contact-touching, hugging, shaking hands-but it is not the only reason. Although mucous membranes exist in the mouth as in the genitals, many STD's seem to be easier to transmit through oral sex than through deep kissing. It seems that infections that are easily transmitted from the mouth to the genitals or from the genitals to the mouth, are much harder to transmit from one mouth to another. With HIV, genital fluids happen to contain much more of the pathogen than saliva. Some infections labeled as STD's can be transmitted by direct skin contact. Herpes simplex and HPV are both examples.

All sexual behaviours that involve contact with another person or the bodily fluids of another person should be considered to contain some risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Most attention has focused on controlling HIV, which causes AIDS, but each STD presents a different danger. The best prevention is of course through abstinence from sexual activities involving other people.