herpes

Despite the initial shame, guilt, name-calling, jokes, and fear related to disclosure, my STI presented me with a chance to love myself more deeply. It gave me a chance to sit with myself, who I thought myself to be, who I thought I was going to become, and who I really was.

About one in five people in the United States over age 12 — approximately 45 million individuals — are infected with HSV-II, the virus that causes genital herpes. Around 50-80 percent of the adult population has oral herpes, which most people contract through nonsexual contact in childhood.

When I was in high school, I was -- as I still am now -- in the habit of hugging friends and warmly kissing them on the cheek, the sides of their mouth or on the mouth entire when greeting them, passing them in the halls, or just because I loved them and liked to demonstrate my affection. You can...

If that's truly the case -- if any two people have had NO sexual contact of any kind with other partners -- then, for the most part, either of them having a sexually transmitted infection is highly unlikely. It's never sage to just presume someone has no STIs without having had any testing, but in...

Not having sexual contact with anyone in the past does decrease your risk of STI transmission, however it does not totally negate the risk. First of all, some STIs can be transmitted via non-sexual means. One example that works really well when we're talking about oral sex is herpes. As is noted in...

Starting with the birth control issue, not knowing which pill in particular you're on and not being able to see the insert for myself, I can't give you a 100% answer per promising you I'm being as accurate as I know how to be. However, there are indeed some BCPs which operate in the way you're...