How Long Can Stds Survive Outside the Body
Updated: February 2021
Chances are, if you lot're reading this, y'all're scared past the idea of catching some sort of STD. Or at least you take been in the past. That night you got boozer and didn't accept a prophylactic but went for it anyhow. Or perhaps you lot hooked up with someone who had a reputation for sleeping with every third person in the phone volume.
Perhaps you freaked out and rushed to become tested the next forenoon. Maybe you lot started Googling effectually frantically to convince yourself that you're OK, only to find horrifying images and statistics about how people lost internal organs, limbs and never, ever had sexual practice again considering they were so hideously plain-featured by some pesky infection… Your mind begins racing, your liver DOES hurt, you think to yourself. Information technology must be an early onset of AIDS. Obviously…
The unfortunate thing about STD "instruction" is that information technology focuses on very specific information: symptoms, treatments, and every worst-case scenario. The real-globe experiences and probabilities are absent-minded. Down-to-earth guidance on how this information should affect your behavior is ordinarily glossed over—telling you to abstain from having sex activity (yeah right) and to use a safety (fifty-fifty though information technology doesn't preclude everything).
As a result, people outset getting paranoid and some serious social stigmas develop.
What'southward never discussed is the actual prevalence of STDs, the realistic chance of catching these STDs, or what the experience of catching them would be like.
I yet recollect the night a girl I was dating told me that she had HPV. I felt like I was going to vomit. I immediately imagined that my penis had morphed into a giant tumor, shooting pellets of cancer into girls' cervices. Or the time 1 of my best friends told me over the phone that he had what appeared to exist a herpes breakout. I nearly cried for the guy. Holy shit. What was he going to exercise? No adult female would ever date him over again.
Just as I learned more, got tested more, spoke to more doctors and did more enquiry, I realized that the truth about STDs is more complicated than previously assumed and that getting many of them would be a far more beneficial experience than I ever imagined.
For instance, there are 40 strains of sexually transmitted HPV, and merely two of them lead to most cervical cancers in women,1 and that's assuming it'south left untreated for years or decades, and THAT is assuming she hasn't already been vaccinated, then even if she does get cervical cancer it's very unlikely to exist fatal. So what I causeless was my cancer-laden pee-shooter in my pants actually had something similar a i/20 ten 1/2 ten one/100 x one/ten chance of actually killing a girl.two , 3
The more I've learned virtually STDs, the more I've encouraged people to relax a little fleck nigh them. I know that sounds crazy, simply seriously, relax. Use a condom. Get tested by your healthcare provider periodically. Stay away from the people with crack habits. Exercise that, and yous're going to exist fine. Seriously.
For example, about one in 2,200 people are diagnosed with syphilis in the United States each year.four Past contrast, you have a one in 106 adventure of dying in a machine accident in your lifetime,5 just to give you some perspective. And the difference is syphilis can be cured with a little penicillin. Car accidents are another story.
The reason most STD information is absolutely terrifying is because 1) terrifying information sells in the media and 2) religious nuts don't desire anybody to take fun.
Nosotros exercise a dismal task of sex activity pedagogy in our culture. And one product of ignorance is fear.
What I aim to do with this article is to break down the virtually mutual STDs in the most realistic fashion possible. Statistics, symptoms, and treatments are listed. Sources are included. But I'm likewise going to list a couple of other things that you lot won't find anywhere else: 1) what the experience of actually contracting that STD would be like, and ii) how likely you are to catch each STD if you had rampant unprotected sex.
In fact, I've put together a statistic of my own for each STD, the RAW Score. The RAW Score is a rough estimation of the boilerplate number of unmarried Americans y'all would have to accept unprotected penetrative sexual activity with to contract that particular STD.
- Curable STDs: I split the number of single individuals in a higher place the age of fifteen in the The states (approximately 130 1000000 every bit of 2018/19)6 , vii by the estimated number of new cases per yr (which is college than the reported number, obviously).
- Incurable STDs: I utilize the number of the American population (near 327 1000000 as of 2018)8 and split by the number of Americans with that STD. I realize this method is ridiculous and flawed, merely the numbers are so stark that information technology gets the point across nicely: you're not likely to grab annihilation serious anytime shortly.
And finally, I will say this again and again: utilize fucking protection. Don't be an idiot. Utilize protection, get tested regularly. And ane more fourth dimension, in case some people tin can't read: Utilize PROTECTION, GET TESTED REGULARLY
Living With Information technology: Uncomfortable… then you take some pills and information technology's gone.
Curable: Yes (two-4 Weeks)
U.s. Incidence (new cases annually): four million9
RAW Score: 33 Partners
Condom Protects: Yep
Chlamydia is a relatively pocket-size bacterial infection, by and large transferred through intercourse. In men, it's uncomfortable and mostly harmless. In women, there'southward a chance that if untreated, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which can pb to complications with pregnancies or fifty-fifty infertility.
Symptoms include burning pee and, dudes, your assurance might ache. While 25% of men don't experience symptoms, a full lxx% of women exercise not feel whatever symptoms, which actually makes it more dangerous for women (virtually doctors recommend women screen for chlamydia at least once a year).10
Living With It: Painful. Hope for no pus. Then you lot have some pills and it's gone.
Curable: Yes (within a calendar month)
US Incidence (new cases annually): 1.half-dozen one thousand thousandxi
RAW Score: 81 Partners
Condom Protects: Yeah
Gonorrhea is chlamydia's big brother. In fact, the two often occur together. The divergence is that gonorrhea can exist transferred via any orifice: penis, vagina, anus, mouth. It oft takes a few weeks for symptoms to show up, and it's fifty-fifty more unpleasant to bargain with.12
The symptoms for gonorrhea include painful urination, aching balls for guys, bloated urethra, sore throat, and pus coming out of your genitals. Yes, that was pus coming out of your genitals.
Equally for treatment, in that location's good and bad news. The adept news is that since gonorrhea is a bacterial infection, it can be treated with antibiotics.
The bad news is that there'south been a rise in antibiotic-resistant strains of gonorrhea in the past few years. There is only i grade of antibiotics left that tin treat information technology. And health officials are closely monitoring for signs of resistance to our last line of defence force while new antibiotics are being researched.
So exist careful.
Living With Information technology: Itchy. Then 15 years later you become insane and impale yourself… (no, seriously.)
Curable: Yes
Us Incidence (new cases annually): 146,000xiii
RAW Score: 890 Partners (no, that'due south non a typo)
Safety Protects: No
The famous philosopher Nietzsche was a fleck of a lush and had a fondness for prostitutes. Somewhere along the way, he contracted syphilis and his body began to wither from the within out. Throughout this torturous process, he famously proclaimed "God is dead" and slowly slipped into dementia and died.
Syphilis was the 19th century's version of the AIDS epidemic. It was famously cured by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and even though information technology hasn't been much of an outcome since, information technology is back on the rise, especially among gay men.14
Syphilis plays itself out in stages. The get-go phase is y'all develop a sore or sores (normally merely ane, but not always). This happens a few weeks after contracting the infection and the sore is generally painless. From in that location, after a few months, you lot break out into rashes. These rashes proceed for weeks or months and eventually subside. From in that location, you have no symptoms. And then xv-20 years later your internal organs start bleeding, you lose control of your motor functions, and you start losing your heed.
And so the moral of the story? Get tested sometime in the next 15 years… ya know, whenever you get a risk.
Living With It: Annihilation from a temporary nuisance and some bad-mannered conversations to hopefully just ane (painful) performance for women.
Curable: No, but information technology typically leaves on its own later on a few years. There is likewise a vaccine for women and men at present15 (get it!).
US Prevalence (all existing cases): 42.5 meg16
U.s.a. Incidence (new cases annually): xiii million17
RAW Score: eight Partners
Condom Protects: Not entirely. HPV spreads by skin-to-skin contact and tin also be on peel not covered by the rubber.
HPV is where things begin to go interesting. HPV was the STD freak out in the media a few years back. If all yous've heard is the few tidbits that get passed around, it sounds horrifying: You can get HPV from vaginal sex, anal sex, or oral sex and nearly sexually active men and women volition get information technology at some signal in their lives. Information technology causes cancer, condoms don't completely protect against it, and warts are going to cover your face up and you're going to suffocate to death.
This is all true. OK, the warts on the face and suffocation part isn't, simply the balance is. But what's more important is the information you DON'T hear.
And here it is: there are over 200 strains of HPV and over twoscore of them tin exist transmitted sexually.18 , 19 The virus is and so common that nearly all sexually active people get infected at some betoken in their lives. Only some of those strains can cause symptoms: high-risk strains can cause cancer and low-risk strains can cause warts. However, most people never develop any symptoms, even if they do come in contact with the virus. If you lot do develop symptoms, there is a 91% take a chance that your body's immune system will clear the symptoms inside 2 years.20
The low-chance strains of the HPV-virus cause genital warts. These strains are called low-run a risk because they merely cause warts and do not cause cancer. Warts sound terrible, but they're relatively harmless and usually small and painless. There are several treatments bachelor to get rid of them, from light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation surgery to applying a foam for a few months.
The high-risk strains tin lead to cervical cancer in women, as well every bit another types of cancer similar throat and anal cancer. Actually, HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer in women. But hither, again, it's important to know that even nigh high-risk HPV infections occur without whatsoever symptoms, get away within 1 to 2 years, and do not cause cancer. It's just when high-gamble HPV infections persist for many years that they tin lead to cell changes that, if untreated, can progress to cancer.
The good news is that women are getting checked more and more for lesions and/or abnormal cells on their neck these days. A Pap exam or Pap smear is recommended for all women between the ages of 21 and 65.21
For women who do get lesions, they can have a procedure that prevents them from getting cervical cancer, but it'south pretty painful and follow-ups with your doctor are necessary. That said, you shouldn't freak out likewise much nearly it as it tin at least be managed if not completely "cured."
Your allowed system is important in dealing with the virus and preventing recurrences, so it pays to take care of your health if you find out you lot have HPV. Drink less alcohol,22 stop smoking,23 swallow healthily, and take some supplements.24 , 25
Also, the HPV vaccine is being given to simply well-nigh every daughter under 26, and once again, men tin can go it now too. The vaccine called Gardasil protects against 2 high-risk strains of HPV that together cause 70% of cases of cervical cancer. It also protects confronting 2 low-gamble strains of the virus that together cause ninety% of genital warts. The newer Gardasil-9 vaccine protects against even more strains of the virus.26
And so if you're sexually active, chances are yous've already got at least ane strain of HPV. Only once again, nearly of the time this won't cause any symptoms, and even if y'all practise get symptoms, your immune arrangement normally deals with information technology inside i-two years.
Women should get regular screening for HPV once they reach a certain age. Unfortunately, there is no HPV screening for men. Men can but be diagnosed with HPV when they have visible warts. And that sucks, ruins your week, causes a lot of awkward conversations… but y'all motility on and everything ends up beingness fine.
Living With It: There's a practiced adventure y'all already accept it.
Curable: No, but who cares?
U.s. Prevalence (all existing cases): xviii.6 million27
Us Incidence (new cases annually): 572,00028
RAW Score: 18 Partners
Condom Protects: No
So I accept good news and bad news. The bad news is that a shit ton of people accept canker (including probably myself). The good news is that the vast majority of people never show symptoms and don't have the viral load required for information technology to prove up in their blood levels.
I have to admit, herpes was the big one I was terrified of getting (the reason I'm not worried nigh HIV is below). Then I started researching it for this article and realized I probably already have it. And chances are you have it too!
See, there are 2 types of herpes simplex virus: HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 ordinarily causes breakouts effectually the mouth—we but call them common cold sores or fever blisters. Almost 70% of the world population has HSV-i,29 although at whatever given time virtually none of us take a breakout.
HSV-2 causes breakouts effectually the genitals.xxx The majority of people never get breakouts or become such pocket-size breakouts that they don't fifty-fifty realize that it'south herpes. My friend who has had a breakout said that he originally thought his was just a bug bite. It wasn't until a 2d i showed upward that he decided to get it checked out. It'south been over three years and he hasn't had another breakout since. He's also in a monogamous relationship and his girlfriend has never had a breakout.
Canker never goes away, but it'due south relatively harmless. In fact, even if you do get breakouts, most people stop getting them after a couple of years. And if you lot're one of the unlucky few who actually does go bad breakouts, you can have medication to suppress them. So at that place. Not worried about herpes anymore… After all, I probably already take information technology, so do many of you.
Living With It: Expensive and stressful, but assuming you're not African, y'all'll live.
Curable: No
United states Prevalence (all existing cases): 984,00031
Usa Incidence (new cases annually):32,60032
RAW Score: 332 Partners (significantly fewer if engaging in anal sex)
Prophylactic Protects: Yes
HIV is no longer the death warrant it in one case was. Don't get me incorrect, contracting it would be awful and surely life-altering. But you would live. I but hope y'all have proficient health insurance. Life expectancy for young people living in Europe and Northward America is simply slightly lower than the general population provided you kickoff treatment immediately after a positive HIV diagnosis.
That said, some demographics are far more than likely to contract HIV than others: UNAIDS reports gay men and drug addicts who use dingy needles are both 24 times more likely to contract information technology than the full general population globally. When it comes to vaginal sex, both men and women can contract HIV from an infected partner. Anal sexual practice—whether information technology'south hetero- or homosexual—seems to exist the large culprit hither.
Also, I detest to say it, but HIV positive cases are predominantly lower-income classes. African-Americans business relationship unduly for 42% of all HIV cases in the U.s.a..
But HIV infections have been failing to some degree in Europe and Due north America (more than and so in Europe).33 And in 2013, at that place were some very early accounts of people possibly beingness cured of the disease, and in 2020, stalk cell therapy looks very promising.
The symptoms of HIV are influenza-like symptoms a couple of weeks after contracting it. From there, your allowed system slowly shuts down over a catamenia of years. There are a lot of therapies and treatments available and nigh people who contract it tin live functional, mostly normal lives, bold they get the proper medical intendance. So the news on the HIV front over the past few decades has actually been mostly good.34
Just even so, use a damn condom.
Living With It: Completely and irreversibly life-irresolute
Curable: Uhh… err…
US Prevalence: Your mom had it at to the lowest degree once
RAW Score: 75 Sexual Encounters35
Condom Protects: 85% effective36
Over the years I've had dozens of people ask me about STDs, many of them looking for information, but many of them simply looking for reassurance that they were not going to shrivel up and dice. I ever tell them that ane) they're going to exist fine, and two) they should be far more than worried about babies. Notice the 1 in 75 sexual encounters. That's not 75 partners, that'south 75 occurrences of unprotected intercourse. That'southward MUCH more than likely than many of the STDs listed here.
I can tell you, in all of my years working as a dating coach, with all of my sexual partners, with all of the crazy hedonistic people I partied with, I've but known i person who had a herpes breakout, a few people with HPV, and i person who had chlamydia. I've never met or even heard of anyone with HIV. I've never met or heard of anyone with cervical cancer. I've never met or heard of anyone who contracted gonorrhea or syphilis. Merely I can retrieve of probably a dozen people who accept dealt with an unwanted pregnancy or had a major pregnancy scare.
Practise not fuck around with this.
Every bit a woman, welcome to the growing population of unmarried mothers. Everything is about to change. If you're lucky, the guy will stick around and help. Only if he doesn't, expert luck. Not but do single mothers juggle some of the hardest responsibilities in guild, just children of single mothers often grow upward to accept behavioral and academic issues.
If you're a man and you don't want to be a deadbeat and run off, then you're not in for an easy time past any means either. Prepare to cough up half of your paycheck for the next eighteen years, even if she marries someone else, even if she becomes financially self-sufficient and you're broke. You lot take to pay. The paternity laws in many US states are nevertheless heavily balanced in favor of mothers and so visitation rights, not to mention custody rights, tin can exist hell to go through. If for some reason you and the female parent don't exactly get forth, prepare to hire a good lawyer.
And even if a woman decides to non go on it, welcome to the almost gut-wrenching experience of your life. I'm lucky in that I've never had to bargain with a legitimate pregnancy, simply I know people who have—staunch, hardcore, liberal, don't-give-a-fuck party-goers—and shit gets real fast. Information technology's easy to walk around and say, "I would practice this or that," but when it comes time to walk the walk, many people can't breadbasket it. Or even if they tin, they live with the guilt for the rest of their lives.
So if you don't want to be a mommy or daddy, get contraception. If you don't know or trust someone, use protection. If you're sexually agile, get tested regularly. Accept open up conversations with your sexual partners about this stuff: "Have you been tested? Are you on birth control?" Yeah, it'south awkward. Only yes, it's always worth information technology.
Stay smart and stay safe.
(Comprehend image: "Condoms" by Shawn Latta is licensed under CC By 2.0)
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Source: https://markmanson.net/std-guide
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