Understanding Sexually Transmitted Infections Quiz

Answer: Yes

According to the Centers for Disease Control, people infected with STIs are 2-5 times more likely to contract the HIV virus, if exposed through sexual contact, because STIs weaken the immune system's ability to stave off incoming infections due to the genital ulcers and inflammations caused by STIs.

Infected individuals also are more likely to shed HIV in their genital secretions which will cause them to also pass the virus onto others more easily due to it being in a higher viral concentration. Women with untreated chlamydia are five times more likely to contract HIV if exposed before they are treated for the STI, and men that are infected with both HIV and gonorrhea are twice as likely to have HIV in their genital secretions.

Answer: all of these

Both of the bacterial STIs listed, chlamydia and gonorrhea, can be asymptomatic, so it is vital that all sexually active people be tested by their doctors or by a sexual health testing facility regardless of whether they are showing any symptoms. Chlamydia and gonorrhea can be identified by both men and women sometimes by a colored genital discharge and a burning sensation when urinating.

Infected men may have swollen/painful testicles and women may experience irregular vaginal bleeding. Many people believe that if they show no symptoms, they don't need to be tested and/or treated - this is not true at all. Untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease in women, which is highly contributory to infertility and reproductive complications, and both of these STIs can also be transmitted to newborns during birth and cause considerable health risks for infants.

Herpes is also considered a "silent" STI because symptoms such as sores do not always show up on infected people's bodies, but they still may still be infected.

Answer: chlamydia

When women become pregnant they are tested for a large variety of possible infections including sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS. If a pregnant woman contracts chlamydia while pregnant, or has chlamydia and it goes untreated throughout the pregnancy, it can lead to premature delivery and to chlamydial infections in the eyes and their respiratory tracts, which usually leads to infant pneumonia.

Answer: Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father

Contrary to popular opinion, Benjamin Franklin did not die of syphilis even though he had a very prolific sex life that flourished in France, where syphilis was a particularly difficult problem. If left untreated for too long, syphilis can affect both organ and brain function, as well as cause large tumor-like growths to appear under the skin. Like many other STIs, syphilis can be asymptomatic and a person could show no symptoms whatsoever OR it could bear symptoms too similar to other illnesses to be distinguished as syphilis. Like other STIs, a health screening for syphilis should be done when being tested for HIV/AIDS and other STIs. Syphilis can be easily treated with antibiotics prescribed by a health care professional.

Answer: No

While STIs like chlamydia can be transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral sexual contact whereby fluids are exchanged, gonorrhea is transmitted through contact with an infected individual's penis, vagina, mouth, or anus. Ejaculation is not necessary in order to transmit the infection.

However, like chlamydia, if both partners are infected they must abstain from sexual contact with others AND each other until their antibiotic treatment is completed, because they will simply be re-infecting each other with each sexual contact.

Answer: Yes

Pelvic inflammatory disease occurs when bacteria moves from a woman's vagina or cervix to the reproductive organs, creating scar tissue in the Fallopian tubes that block the movement of the eggs into the uterus, leading to 1 in 10 women becoming infertile. PID is generally caused by untreated bacterial STIs, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, with sexually active women under the age of 25 being at a higher risk due to their cervixes not yet being fully matured and developed. Like chlamydia and gonorrhea, PID can be treated with antibiotics, but the more times a woman becomes infected the more likely the infection will cause scar tissue and resulting infertility. Like other STIs, PID can be asymptomatic and go unrecognized in two-thirds of all infected women; routine testing, like that done for other STIs, should be maintained to ensure no long term damage is done to a woman's reproductive system.

Answer: hepatitis C

Both hepatitis A and B can be prevented through a routine and effective vaccination. Hepatitis C does not have an immunization available to prevent its spread. Hepatitis in all forms are contagious liver diseases. Hepatitis C is spread through infected blood so sharing needles and other forms of "blood sharing" are strongly discouraged, not only to prevent hepatitis C, but also to prevent the potential spread of HIV/AIDS and other blood-born viruses.

Hepatitis B is seen as a sexually transmitted infection as it can be spread through blood, semen, and other bodily fluids, such as breast milk; hepatitis A and C can be spread through sexual contact though not as easily as hepatitis B.

Answer: chlamydia

Herpes, HPV/genital warts, and pubic lice/crabs can be spread from person to person simply through passive skin-to-skin contact, as the cells and/or lice only need to come in contact with another surface through friction to cause transmission. In many instances, specifically with herpes, an infected person can experience an asymptomatic shedding period whereby their body is able to pass along the STI to another person even though they may not be experiencing a visible sore/chancre outbreak. While there are medicinal treatments for herpes there is no cure; the general treatment for HPV is more cosmetic than medicinal. Pubic lice/crabs can be treated with prescribed or over-the-counter shampoo/lotion designed to kill the lice/crabs. Chlamydia is transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids, whether it be through oral, vaginal, or anal sexual contact.

Answer: herpes

STIs can be separated into two different groupings: bacterial and viral. Bacterial STIs are caused by bacteria and are curable with antibiotic treatments while viral STIs are caused by viruses and may be treatable, but are NOT curable. The easiest way to remember which STIs are viral is to remember them as the four "H"s: herpes, HPV (genital warts), HIV, hepatitis (specifically, hepatitis C).

Answer: withdrawal method

This question should be easy for people to understand, as male & female condoms, dental dams/sheer glyde, and continuous abstinence each block the exchange of bodily fluids (i.e. semen, vaginal fluid, blood) that can lead to the transmission of STIs and HIV/AIDS. HOWEVER, the only 100% effective means of preventing transmission is continuous abstinence; male condoms, female condoms, and dental dams/sheer glyde are effective in preventing the fluid transmission, but they are NOT 100% effective and a small risk of transmission still exists.

Many people believe that the withdrawal method prevents pregnancy and that it can also prevent transmission of STIs and HIV/AIDS but that is 100% false, as fluids are still being exchanged and some STIs can be transmitted through genital or skin-to-skin contact.