sexually transmitted diseases

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), formerly known as venereal diseases, infectious diseases passed from one person to another during sexual contact. STDs are among the most common infections known. More than 12 million people in the United States, including 3 million teenagers, are infected with STDs every year. The United States has the highest STD rate in the industrialized world about one in ten Americans will contract an STD during his or her lifetime. People who do not …

…of condoms has increased since the onset of the AIDS epidemic. Public health officials feel that many factors are probably responsible, among them trends in sexual behavior. In the last several decades, the age at which people have sex for the first time has shifted downward, while the average number of partners a person has sex with during his or her lifetime has increased. Together, these trends increase the risk of exposure to an STD.