Fun STD Facts
October 22, 2009 12:49 PM   Subscribe

More than two dozen bacterial, viral or parasitic infections are known to be transmitted largely or exclusively through sexual contact. U.S. public health authorities focus on a limited set of these STIs. Read more about it in "Facts on Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United States" published by the Guttmacher Institute.

Guttmacher Institute has also published the following recent reports on the state of abortion that are quite interesting:

Abortion Worldwide: A decade of uneven progress (a 68 page pdf document)

Unsafe Abortion Costs the Developing World Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Each Year

Recession has dramatically reshaped women's childbearing desires
posted by pick_the_flowers (38 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite


 
Guttmacher Institute on Sourcewatch

Nothing against the post, which is a good one. But when looking at studies, I always like to check Sourcewatch to determine likely research bias.
posted by zarq at 12:58 PM on October 22, 2009


The Good Maker institute?
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:16 PM on October 22, 2009


Yes, because STIs are clear evidence for intelligent design.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:23 PM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]


That's a lot of abortion links for an STI post.
posted by smackfu at 1:32 PM on October 22, 2009


zarq - what does the Sourcewatch link provide that doesn't come directly from the Guttmacher institute website?
posted by muddgirl at 1:32 PM on October 22, 2009


Yes, because STIs are clear evidence for intelligent design.

Well, sure, if you believe that the designer is a vindictive, sadistic asshole.

Whoops. There's that old testament popping up again.
posted by Caduceus at 1:34 PM on October 22, 2009 [3 favorites]


When did abortion become an STD?
posted by tinatiga at 1:48 PM on October 22, 2009


So, is there an exhaustive list of the STIs?

Also, how many of them are oncoviruses?
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:49 PM on October 22, 2009


zarq - what does the Sourcewatch link provide that doesn't come directly from the Guttmacher institute website?

Links to profiles of various people involved in the Institute. At a glance, we can see that they're connected to Planned Parenthood, etc.

In one sense, I suppose it also provides a loose standard of measurement. This is the profile for the Cato Institute. This for the Heritage Foundation. As you can see, their entries are much more detailed, and give a clear overview of each think tank's history, potentially questionable acts and people / organizations they're connected to. Guttmacher doesn't have much of a profile. Perhaps they haven't been as underhanded in the way they interpret and disseminate information? We can only speculate.
posted by zarq at 1:53 PM on October 22, 2009


When did abortion become an STD?

A couple of weeks after pregnancy.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:00 PM on October 22, 2009


Note also the German word for abortion: Schwangerschaftsabbruch.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:07 PM on October 22, 2009


Guttmacher's always been pretty upfront about how and what they study and how the info gets disseminated. They've been around for a long time, and have done really good, solid work on things Americans generally find scary, like sex. The right hates them and is happy to tell anyone who will listen that the Institute is allied with babykillers etc.

Sometimes, who someone's enemies are can tell you as much about them, or more, than who their friends are.

Their friends include people who work in public health. This is a good thing. And here's their review, or whatever it's called, on factchecked.org.
posted by rtha at 2:08 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]


UbuRoivas: I believe abtreibung is the more commonly used word.
posted by !Jim at 2:16 PM on October 22, 2009


It still sounds like something one might cough up.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:18 PM on October 22, 2009


rtha, thank you. That's excellent. I've heard of them, but knew very little else until this afternoon.
posted by zarq at 2:24 PM on October 22, 2009


Note the German word for hormonal birth control: die Antibabypille.
posted by besonders at 2:30 PM on October 22, 2009 [9 favorites]


besonders, are you making that up? I really hope you're not.
posted by rtha at 2:42 PM on October 22, 2009


"It still sounds like something one might cough up."

You cough up Schwangerschaftsabbruch?

It sounds more like something one might swallow repeatedly.
posted by markkraft at 3:04 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]


He's not making it up, although I guess people mostly call it die Pille.
posted by the_bone at 3:05 PM on October 22, 2009


besonders, are you making that up? I really hope you're not.

He's not.

Yet another new piece of trivia I've learned thanks to MeFi....
posted by zarq at 3:06 PM on October 22, 2009


When did abortion become an STD?

That's an error. It's the actual pregnancy that's an STD. Take it from a dad who's had a rough day.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:09 PM on October 22, 2009


That is awesome.
posted by rtha at 3:10 PM on October 22, 2009


They missed my favorite STD, a poxvirus called Molluscum contagiosum [warning: ugly pics].
posted by benzenedream at 4:00 PM on October 22, 2009


I am afraid to click the STD link because I might catch a virus.

I have been on Mefi too long.
posted by misha at 4:18 PM on October 22, 2009


Who came up with "die Antibabypille?" The German people in popular parlance, or the pharmaceutical companies in their marketing?

It's a lot more frank about what it does than all the ads that pitch birth control pills as something you take to control your period.

I'm worried about what they call their condoms.
posted by mccarty.tim at 4:29 PM on October 22, 2009


I'm worried about what they call their condoms.

die scumbag?
posted by Mcable at 4:46 PM on October 22, 2009 [3 favorites]


Whereas white Americans acquire STIs predominantly through high-risk sexual behaviors, black Americans acquire them through both high- and low-risk behaviors because levels of infection within the black population are high.

Any relation between this and racial disparities in hypertension, kidney disease, heart failure, prostate cancer and other conditions? Does a high prevelence of STIs create unique vulnerabilities in a population?
posted by Faze at 4:46 PM on October 22, 2009


The argued relationship between STIs and the other disparities you mention is one of access to quality health care. Other STD Health Disparities

Another Fun Fact:
STDs can cause irreversible damage to you, and be transmitted to sex partners or unborn children, even if you have no symptoms.

There are only three notifiable diseases for which there are federally-funded control programs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

Upcoming conference: http://www.cdc.gov/stdconference/
posted by rahnefan at 4:51 PM on October 22, 2009


I'm worried about what they call their condoms.

Probably not "French letters", for a start.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:51 PM on October 22, 2009


die scumbag

More like die cumbag, no?

I'm not understanding the abortion/STI link, either. A thread about STIs would be good.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:08 PM on October 22, 2009


It's a shame the links don't include a list of the two dozen diseases.

It's said that pubic lice are having a rough time of it, what with the number of people who are trimming their bushes. I imagine that if we took a hardcore approach to it, like we did with polio, crabs could be eliminated within a few years. Free Gillettes for all!
posted by five fresh fish at 5:11 PM on October 22, 2009


Guttmacher...aber nicht zu oft.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 5:31 PM on October 22, 2009


The argued relationship between STIs and the other disparities you mention is one of access to quality health care.

So if everyone had equal access to healthcare all disparities, including STIs, would equalize among all groups?
posted by Faze at 5:41 PM on October 22, 2009


So if everyone had equal access to healthcare all disparities, including STIs, would equalize among all groups?

I didn't say it..."they" did...I are not scientist.
posted by rahnefan at 6:31 PM on October 22, 2009


Not making it up in the least--I was really disappointed to find out that emergency contraception is only die Pille danach.

Condom has always been der Gummi in my experience: a straightforward translation of "rubber," but hilarious to English-speakers.

And then of course there's the fact that "intercourse" and "traffic" are the same word, der Verkehr. I was pretty surprised the first time I heard that one in the non-car sense of the word.
posted by besonders at 10:48 PM on October 22, 2009


I was wondering about the dropping of syphilis (clumped with 'other STI's) as a major STIs on that page so I went for a wander around the net and came across this disgusting story - The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. Being told that they were being treated for 'bad blood' for 40 years, unfuckingbelievable! The irony of the experiment's name coming from the Tuskegee Institute, the black university founded by Booker T. Washington, just rams it home for me.
posted by tellurian at 11:13 PM on October 22, 2009


I'm worried about what they call their condoms.

Probably not "French letters", for a start.


"Pariser" is still in use here too, though mostly by older people (60+)

die scumbag?

Close one cute little euphemism would be "Lümmeltüte" (boor/bugger-bag)
posted by ZeroAmbition at 2:04 AM on October 23, 2009


The links are connected because they are all reports put out by Guttmacher and all about reproductive health.
posted by pick_the_flowers at 9:24 AM on October 23, 2009


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