Not only is April national poetry month and a little more odd national pecan month, it’s also national STI awareness month.
STI awareness month is a time to remind people of the dangers of unprotected intercourse and to nudge people to get tested if they’re sexually active.
As a women I can’t stress how important testing really is. Some sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea can be asymptomatic meaning you or your partner may be infected and not show any symptoms and these infections can have some very serious consequences. While they are treatable if you aren’t diagnosed early they can possibly make you infertile. Which is something that scares the heck out of me.
It can be a hard subject to talk about, and too many people do blow it off but the statistics are quite frightening. The Center for Disease Control estimates that around 19 million people will contract an STI this year and about half of them are under the age of 25.
So no matter how old you are when is the last time you were tested? Almost all counties have free or low cost STI testing and all insurance will cover the testing as well. This April help spread the word and let’s fight this growing problem.
Thanks a lot and I’ll be sure to update my profile.
Thank you Jennifer for this informative post and great reminder. Yes, the statistics are frightening, and it’s not just limited to young people, either. “Rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have doubled for people in their 50s, 60s and 70s in the past decade.” ~http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/02/03/older-people-getting-busy-and-getting-stds/
And you’re right, many of these infections are asymptomatic. I had chlamydia and didn’t even know it till my partner was tested and found he had it. So I got tested, too. Thanks for this beneficial post. I hope you don’t mind, we added a feature image and featured your post on the homepage of http://www.herewomentalk.com. Also, we’ve upgraded your status to Author so going forward, you can add your own photos and publish immediately. Thanks for sharing with us.
P.S. Hope you’ll update your author profile and tell us more about you.