Sources

1. Koutsky L. (1997). Epidemiology of genital human papillomavirus infection. American Journal of Medicine, 102(5A), 3-8.

2. Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1994). Sex and America's Teenagers. New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute.

3. Cates JR, Herndon NL, Schulz S L, Darroch JE. (2004). Our voices, our lives, our futures: Youth and sexually transmitted diseases. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

4.Ness RB et al. (2004). Condom use and the risk of recurrent pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, or infertility following an episode of pelvic inflammatory disease. American Journal of Public Health, 2004, 94:1327-1329.

5.American Social Health Association, State of the Nation 2005: Challenges Facing STD Prevention Among Youth – Research, Review, and Recommendations, Research, Triangle Park, NC: ASHA, 2005.

6. Food and Drug Administration 12/03, www.fda.com

Your health is important. The decision you make today could affect your health for the rest of you life.

Did you know:

1. More than half of all people will have an STD/STI at some point in their lifetime. [1]
2. Each year, one in four teens contracts an STD/STI. [2]
3. One in two sexually active persons will contact an STD/STI by age 25. [3]
4. At least 15 percent of all American women who are infertile can attribute it to tubal damage caused by pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) , the result of an untreated STD. Consistent condom use reduces the risk of recurrent PID and related complications: significantly, women who reported regular use of condoms in one study were 60 percent less likely to become infertile. [4]
5. Youth exposed to sexual content on television are more likely to overestimate the frequency of sexual activity among peers and have more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex. [5]
6. 11 out of every 100 women using condoms for protection will become pregnant each year.[6]