A friend and I were chatting about STDs. Apparently, there is a resurgence of certain STDs (or should I say STIs- sexually transmitted infections). Apparently, it is young adults that are causing the resurgence. Young adults that don't remember what it was like to actually fear things like HIV.
I have tried to locate reliable studies that determine the prevalence of STDs in swingers. Unfortunately, I haven't located anything that is empirically-valid. I truly wonder how we rate. My thought is that being in committed relationships may make swingers a little more cautious. However, I don't want to group all swingers together. Some are really reckless.
Another issue is disclosure. My friend watched a show about STDs where people were asked to anonymously report if they had ever knowingly had risky sex while they were infected with a STD. There were numerous calls. Most disclosed about how they were angry that they got "burned" and they didn't care if they passed it on. This is very scary to me. It seems that anger motivates the spreading of illnesses...some of which are not treatable.
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3 comments:
Its scary that people are so careless when it comes to their own health and wellbeing, and that of others. It is really depressing to see others act irresponsibly and not care if they infect others.
I'd like to think this is the rare minority, but you never know.
~SS
That was an interesting commentary regarding those who don't care if they are spreading STDs because they were burned. I'm sure it's happened throughout the history of STDs, but that was one feature noted in the early days of AIDS/HIV... many gay men interviewed by the CDC as they were trying to find Patient Zero in the US disclosed that they weren't using protection or disclosing their status to partners. First, they didn't want the stigma, and second, many thought that since they were burned, it was a matter of oh well.
And this line of reasoning cycles through once again, 25 years later...
rpu3
The statistics are scary: I've read that one in four women have Herpes. Yes, that's ONE in FOUR. So strictly statistically speaking, if you've played with four people, you've put yourself at risk.
I know people have been frustrated with us because of the number of questions we ask before we decide to play with a couple. And sometimes, we've liked a couple a lot but their behavior has seemed risky to us, and we just don't want to take the chance. I know a lot of STD's are curable, but I don't want them either! There was a discussion on one of "our" favorite swinging boards recently about the use of condoms. One of the statements was "it doesn't always suppress the spreading of non-curable diseases, and the other ones are curable." The thought of going to the Dr. to get Penicillin for an STD of ANY flavor would be mortifying to me.
So -- unless we feel VERY SAFE (as in, we know everyone is clean and we know the activities of our partners), we're using condoms. And we're being very picky about our playmates.
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