Chlamydia
Syphilis (congenital)
Chlamydia Syphilis (primary and secondary)
Gonorrhea
Hepatitis
The CDC estimates that between 125,000 and 200,000 people are infected with Hepatitis A (HAV) per year in the U.S. In the U.S., 700,000—1.25 million people have chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV), with an estimated 78,000 new HBV infections each year. HCV is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the U.S. According to the CDC, about 4 million Americans have been infected with HCV, of whom 2.7 million have chronic infections. Each year there are nearly 25,000 new infections in the U.S.
50 to 80% of the U.S. adult population has antibodies for HSV-1, or oral herpes. That means one in five adults has genital herpes. As many as 90% of infected people are unaware they have the virus.
See CDC: “CDC Fact Sheet: Reported STDs in the United States”
STDs are common in young people. Teens make up more than 1 in 4 diagnosed STD cases in
New York City.
More than 10,000 teen women were diagnosed with chlamydia in 2007, up 26% from 2006.
More than 2,300 teenagers were diagnosed with gonorrhea in 2007.
HIV diagnoses are rising in men who have sex with men younger than 30 (mostly among blacks and Hispanics). Cases are up 43% with this group since 2001.
Anyone infected with both an STD and HIV increases the chances of exposing others to HIV infection because the STD will contain concentrated amounts of the HIV virus. Below are more detailed explanations of how certain STDs further complicate HIV infection.
STDs in conjunction with HIV make transmission of both conditions more likely. For example, if you have chlamydia and are HIV positive, the HIV virus will be concentrated in your inflamed genitals. This situation will increase your ability to pass the virus 10 times more in your semen or vaginal secretions. If you only have an STD, your chances of contracting HIV increase with an infected partner who is HIV positive. Chlamydia in and around your anus may increase chances of getting HIV ten to twenty-fold.
If you are HIV positive and have inflammation of the genitals because of gonorrhea, the inflamed tissues will contain concentrated amounts of the virus. If the gonorrheal infection is in your penis, your semen will contain high concentrations of the virus and increase your chances of spreading HIV 10 times more.
If you are HIV negative but have gonorrhea, your immune system’s disease-fighting cells will be weaker and thus allow you to be more susceptible to HIV. Gonorrhea in and around your anus increases the risk of contracting HIV by ten to twenty times.
Important Note: A hepatitis B (HBV) infection in someone who is HIV positive is more likely to turn into chronic HBV. It is estimated that 5,000 people die each year in the U.S. due to complications of cirrhosis and liver cancer as a result of HBV.
It is vital to understand that open herpes sores play a role in the spread of HIV. A person with a herpes sore is three to five times more likely to acquire HIV if exposed to an HIV-positive sex partner. Also, people with herpes and HIV carry increased amounts of HIV fluid in their open sores, and this makes transmitting both diseases to a partner more likely.