STI's and treatments

• STIs are infections passed from one person to another during skin to skin or intimate sexual contact
• STIs usually affect the genitals, anus, or mouth, but can also affect other areas of the body
• STIs usually do not cause signs or symptoms
• Sometimes they may cause discharges, sores, growths or rashes

How do I catch them?

• Having penetrative sex, vaginal, oral or anal, without a condom
• Even protected sex can put you at risk of catching some STIs.
• Some activities are higher risk than others:
• Unprotected sex
  • with casual partners
  • with multiple partners
  • with a partner who has taken risks - had unprotected sex with casual partners
  • with a partner who has injected drugs

Men who have unprotected anal sex with other men are also at higher risk.