Damilola Ogunrinde: You Wanna Drop Those Pants For Steamy Sexy Time? Know Your STDs First!

Happy new STD! Yes, you read that right! When Pastor E.A. Adeboye, announced that 2016 will be the year of a new STD, someone said to me, ‘it cannot be worse than HIV’. I thought to myself, do we know our STDs? As recent news surfaced that Zika Virus may be sexually transmitted, scientists are in a race to find a cure. The Aedes mosquito carries zika virus, and infection can be prevented by mosquito nets and insect repellents. The outbreak in Brazil has caused fear and trepidation in the hearts of many as Zika is currently linked to small head circumference in infants. If it proves to be an STI, the consequences may be devastating.

‘STI’ (Sexually Transmitted Infection) is a preferred term for STDs as this is a group of infections as opposed to diseases; I still prefer the term STDs, it sounds more catchy. But for the purpose of the rest of this essay, we will refer to all such infections as STIs. Many of us go around oblivious to the facts and cover ourselves with the Blood of Jesus before actually taking stock of the science that is killing us. STIs are real, and there are here to stay, HIV is not the worst of them.

More than 1 million STIs are acquired every day. Yes, you read that correctly, where there is sexual liberation, there is disease liberation. So I thought we could briefly discuss a few of the widespread STI’s wrecking havoc across the world. Remember ladies and gentlemen, ‘no glove no love’. I have not chosen to exclude Trichomonas, Hepatitis B, Herpes, and Syphilis, as they are wannabes in my humble opinion. Here we go;

Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Approximately 36.9 million are living with HIV, yet it is estimated that only 54% of people with HIV know their status, yep! Ticking time bomb. HIV is not AIDS (Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome). Thank you ‘Shuga’ for spreading the word. Living with HIV is a lost easier in the 21st Century. People with HIV go on to live healthy lives, have healthy babies and may never develop AIDs if they take their antiretrovirals and have good control of their illness. Most newly infected people in Africa acquire HIV during unprotected heterosexual intercourse, not homosexual intercourse. So being straight does not save you.

Chlamydia
If I were to choose the devil’s advocate in the form of a disease, I would choose Chlamydia. It can stay silent, or it can make your genitals burn like fire. It can remain silent and simply cause you to be infertile for life. It can remain silent or kill your newborn infant. It can remain silent and simply make you up to five times more susceptible to contracting HIV. Up to 40% of female infertility cases worldwide is caused by chlamydial damage of the Fallopian tubes. Chlamydia is the devil in bacterial form, luckily, antibiotics can still cure you if the damage hasn’t already been done.

Human Papilloma Virus
This virus is one bad boy! To be honest, many people have never heard of him. He is incurable once contacted and sneakily goes ahead to cause cervical cancer. HPV is a silent killer and the most deadly of STIs. Though Chlamydia will make you burn, HPV will kill. Unfortunately, we can’t all choose our poison. In developed countries, a vaccine is available to girls around the age of 12-15. At that age, they are expected not be engaging in sexual activities, cause once the virus gets in, you can only manage the damage, but you can never get it out. How does one prevent catching HPV, use a condom, or don’t have sex at all?

Gonorrhoea
Yes! You heard that correctly. Gonorrhoea is like Syphilis, the STI of the 60’s the one we all thought disappeared. However, just like Syphilis, Gonorrhoea has come back with a bang. No pun intended. Gonorrhoea is currently being treated with the last antibiotic scientists have in their armoury. Do you know what that means? The bacteria responsible for causing this disease is so intelligent that it has developed resistance to all other known organic and man-made antibiotics. Scientists have no chance, neither do we mere mortals.

Sexually Transmitted Demons
Now these can only be eradicated by prayer and fasting. Depending on the type you contracted during your time of love, you may need to go to the mountain top. Be prepared, fighting the devil is not child’s play.

So there you have it, a breakdown on some of the world’s worst STIs. Remember, unprotected sex comes with a caveat emptor. Did I miss any STIs on my list? Do share them below, you know Dami loves to learn.
Until next time!

Footnote- All statistics have been sourced from the WHO STI, Zika Virus and HIV/AIDs fact sheets.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime