April STI Awareness Month Highlights Hidden Risks of Common Infections

(Rural Health, Inc. Urges Testing and Treatment)

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are some of the most commonly reported diseases in the United States. Because most infections that cause these diseases have no signs or symptoms, someone could be positive and not know it. April is Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Awareness Month. Rural Health, Inc. (RHI) encourages anyone at risk of having an STI to get tested and treated if necessary.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifies an STI as a virus, bacteria, fungus, or parasite people can get through sexual contact and sometimes skin-to-skin contact meaning they are blood borne and fluid-borne, not airborne viruses. STIs require direct contact with mucous membranes or broken skin and cannot be contracted by breathing the same air as an infected person.

STIs are contagious immediately upon infection and remain so until treatment is completed and verified, even when symptoms are absent. Left untreated, these infections can develop into an STD when symptoms can occur. Often someone is most contagious when showing symptoms (sores, discharge) but can be without them. 

The only way to know your disease status is to get tested. According to IDPH, it is estimated that there are roughly 20 million new STIs each year in the United States. Of these new infections, half are among young people age 15 to 24, but can occur at any age.

In addition to preventing disease spread, screening is important to prevent serious health problems from untreated STD infections. The most common include Human papillomavirus (HPV), which are responsible for cervical, anal, and throat cancers; HIV, which increases risks for Kaposi sarcoma and lymphomas; and Hepatitis B and C, which cause liver cancer. Vaccines are available for HPV and Hepatitis B to reduce your chance of contracted these diseases.

For more information on STIs and STDs, or to schedule an appointment for testing, treatment, or vaccination, call RHI at 618-833-4471 or visit online at www.ruralhealthinc.org for a clinic near you.

Rural Health, Inc. (RHI) is a not-for-profit organization serving Johnson, Massac, and Union counties in Illinois, designated by the federal government as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), whose mission is to provide quality services to all patients in need of healthcare while being committed to the overall health and well-being of the underserved.

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