The state of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States is beyond concerning — 1 in 5 Americans (that’s 20% of the population!) has an STI at any given time. Perhaps not so surprising is the fact that almost half of new STIs occur in younger people between the ages of 15 and 24.
As women’s health experts, we understand that there’s some real danger in these infections, especially if they go untreated. This is why Dr. Fernando Otero and the team here at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley, offer quick-and-easy testing for STIs at our practice.
While there are many reasons why we offer this critical screening, we’re going to outline three that should grab your attention.
There are many different types of STIs, such as:
In many cases, these infections may not present any outward signs, leaving you unaware that a problem exists. For example, about 70% of women don’t develop symptoms of chlamydia, 50% of women are asymptomatic when it comes to gonorrhea, and up to 90% of people are unaware of their HPV infection.
Just because you don’t have any symptoms, however, it doesn't mean that the infection isn’t doing any harm. Often, it's not until you develop another health issue that you realize you were infected in the first place.
This is just one reason why we recommend regular testing for STIs if you’re at risk — due to unprotected sex or multiple or new partners — even if you don’t have symptoms.
In the previous section, we referred to health complications that stem from untreated sexually transmitted infections, and these include:
As you can see, these complications can be quite serious, and many could have been prevented with an easy treatment if we detected the infection early on.
This last point is an important one — through regular testing, you can prevent passing along your infection. And we’re not just talking about passing an STI to a sex partner. Some of these infections can impact babies.
For example, between 2017 and 2021, congenital syphilis — passing syphilis on to a newborn — increased by a whopping 203%.
Aside from congenital syphilis, you can pass other STIs to an unborn child, either during delivery or in the womb, and these include:
So, with regular testing for STIs, we can treat any infections that arise, which will prevent you from passing the potential health issue to others in your world.
If you have more questions about testing for STIs or you’d like to go ahead and schedule your screening, please contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas, to set up an appointment.
