A Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), often referred to as a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), is any disease or infection that may be transmitted by human sexual behaviour. This includes intercourse, oral sex and anal sex.

Transmission of some STD’s can also occur from using an IV needle that has already been used by an infected person as well or by receiving a blood transfusion of infected blood.

Here are some facts you should know about STDs.

1. Common symptoms of STDs include burning or pain while urinating; any discharge from the opening of the penis; a change in a woman’s normal vaginal discharge or smell; sores, blisters, rashes, bums, swellings, or growths around the penis, vagina, or rectum; itching, burning, or pain around the penis, vagina, or anus; pain during sex; and pain in the lower abdomen.

2. A condom merely reduces—but does not eliminate—the risk of an STD. Some STDs cannot be prevented with condoms. Examples include genital herpes, genital warts and pubic lice.

3. People with an STD are more likely to become infected with HIV. This is because they usually have genital ulcerations which provide an easy route for HIV to enter the blood stream.

4. The only STD that affects more men than women is syphilis; others affect more women than men.

5. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which is a consequence of some STDs in females accounts for 50-80% of the infertility in Africa.

6. The STD that is mostly connected with infertility in female is Chlamydia trachomatis. Many women have it but they are not aware, because it does not produce symptoms in about 8 out of 10 women with the infection.

7. While some STDs—such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis—are curable, if left untreated, they can cause death, infertility, chronic pain, serious birth defects, and miscarriages.

8. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is currently the fastest growing STI/STD.

9. Each year there are approximately 333 million new cases of STDs in the world, according to the CDC.

10. HPV is believed to cause oral cancer in men at the same rate as tobacco and alcohol.