Your STD Questions, Answered

Whether you’re thinking of marriage, a casual relationship or even a one-night-stand, it’s always best to be in the know about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) or Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). Here are some questions to ask that can make a healthy difference in an intimate relationship.

- Sumaiya Shuaibdeen

WHAT EXACTLY IS STD? (SORRY, IT’S NOT ONLY HIV)

An STI is an infection passed from one person to another through sexual contact. It can be transferred through kissing (depending on the infection), oral sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, any contact between a woman’s genital area and man’s, and any contact between a woman’s genital area and a man’s mouth or vice versa. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is not strictly a STD, but it can be transmitted through heterosexual or homosexual contact. You can also get it through blood or bodily fluid transmission such a blood transfusion, by intravenous drug users sharing needles or a tattoo parlour using the same needles on different clients. For example, a famous paediatrician in the early ’80s got HIV through a blood transfusion after she met with an accident as at that time their screening protocols were not that stringent. On another note, there is also vertical transmission where a pregnant lady with HIV can pass it onto her unborn baby either before or during the birth, and far less commonly, during breast feeding. Once infected, and if the child reaches adulthood, she can pass it onto her partner sexually or to her child vertically.