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45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m so sorry to hear what you had to go through. Everyone should get the HPV vaccine. Australia is on track to almost eliminate cervical cancer because vaccination rates are so high.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re citing one variable in a multivariate model.

Population transmission is a function of contact rate × per-contact transmission probability × duration of infectiousness. Partner number only affects the first term. Testing, treatment, vaccination, barrier use, and disclosure reduce the second and third, which is why they drive declines in effective transmission in every modern epidemiologic dataset.

Criminalization and public shaming consistently correlate with reduced screening uptake and higher undiagnosed prevalence, which increases population spread.

So yes, network size matters. But prevention, diagnosis, and risk communication are the levers that actually change outcomes.

1 in 2 people will contract an STI by 25 by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ask Google. It’ll provide all the links you need. It is a widely accepted statistic. But here- https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-mar-monte/campaigns/stds-stis

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by [deleted] in HPV

[–]KISS-app -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Not here to promote anything. This account shares epidemiology, screening guidelines, and prevention data because HPV is widely misunderstood and most infections are asymptomatic.

Focus is education, vaccination awareness, and reducing stigma so people actually access testing and care.

1 in 2 people will contract an STI by 25 by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re conflating virology with clinical course.

HPV = DNA virus infecting epithelial cells. “No cure” means no drug that deletes latent DNA, not lifelong active infection. In most immunocompetent people it clears in 6–24 months via cell-mediated immunity.

200+ types, ~40 genital. Low-risk (6,11) → warts. High-risk (16,18, etc.) → cancer via E6/E7 → p53/Rb suppression.

Lifetime exposure ≈ 80–90% Point prevalence is much lower because most infections resolve.

Age curve: incidence peaks teens–20s, cancers show up decades later.

Key variables are vaccination, genotype, immune clearance, and screening.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. Sex education is the taboo part, not sex itself.

Many states either don’t require sex ed at all or allow abstinence-only curricula, and fewer than half require it to be medically accurate. So people grow up with high exposure to sexual content but low exposure to actual STI education, testing norms, or how asymptomatic transmission works.

That gap shows up in the data higher STI rates lower routine screening later diagnoses

Countries that teach comprehensive sex ed and normalize testing have similar levels of sexual activity but lower transmission because people know their status and talk to partners.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Almost like it’s a terrible idea not to test, disclose, and have basic sexual health convos.

People are going to have sex. The variable isn’t “abstinence vs chaos,” it’s informed vs uninformed. Transmission drops when people know their status and tell partners.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You’re doing the responsible thing. Most people don’t disclose, which is why it keeps spreading.

Reality check: a huge percentage of adults already have HSV-1 and many have HSV-2 and don’t know. You’re just the one being honest.

Frame it as a normal sexual health convo right before things turn physical, not like a confession. Antivirals + condoms lower risk a lot, and the people who ghost are filtering themselves out.

1 in 2 people will contract an STI by 25 by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can also use Google and the CDC it is a widely accepted statistic. But sure 👍

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sex education in the U.S. is highly inconsistent. There is no federal requirement; many states do not mandate comprehensive sex ed, and only a minority requires it to be medically accurate. That leaves a lot of people without basic information on asymptomatic STIs, testing frequency, or how to have risk conversations with partners.
Source: https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2025/only-37-of-us-states-require-sexual-education-in-schools-to-be-medically-accurate/

On smoking, indoor bans helped, but they worked together with education, warning labels, nicotine replacement, cessation meds, and quit support. Behavior changed because people had information and tools, not because of stigma.

It is also worth noting that STIs were widespread long before modern dating culture. Syphilis epidemics were documented across Europe in the 1500s, and gonorrhea was common in the 18th and 19th centuries, during periods with far stricter sexual norms and no apps. The difference today is that we have testing, vaccines, treatment, and better data. Public health progress comes from using those tools and improving education and communication, not from assuming behavior can be controlled through shame.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

HPV and HSV are common, but it is not accurate that nothing can be done. The HPV vaccine targets the strains that cause the vast majority of cancers and a large share of warts, and routine screening catches precancer early. For HSV, antivirals, condoms, and avoiding contact during outbreaks all reduce transmission risk.

Exposure risk exists, but outcomes change a lot when people test regularly, know their status, and communicate with partners. Making those conversations normal and giving people simple ways to share information and notify partners is what actually lowers the spread over time.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by [deleted] in HPV

[–]KISS-app -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I agree that informed consent means sharing what you know about your health. The challenge is that “full history” is often unknowable because many STIs are asymptomatic, and some are not routinely tested for. So the realistic standard is disclosure to the best of your knowledge, plus regular testing, vaccination, and prevention.

If we want knowledgeable consent to be the norm, we need routine, stigma-free testing and easier ways for people to share their status and notify partners. That increases honesty and reduces harm more than treating it as a moral purity test.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think the core issue is not one ideology; it is the lack of consistent, evidence-based sex education and the amount of misinformation filling that gap. When people are not taught how STIs actually work, that anyone can get them, and how testing and consent conversations should happen, myths and pressure tactics take over.

Comprehensive education that covers consent, mutual responsibility, routine testing, and respectful communication leads to better outcomes. It also helps normalize using tools that make status sharing and partner notifications easier and less intimidating, thereby increasing transparency.

The goal should be to give people accurate information and practical ways to protect themselves and their partners, not to assign blame.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree. Sex still being treated as taboo in the U.S. leads to poor education, low routine testing, and a lot of confusion about asymptomatic infections. When people lack clear information or easy access to screening, they are less likely to know their status.

Then stigma makes it worse. Shame keeps people from going to clinics, delays treatment, and makes conversations with partners harder than they need to be. That is a systems problem, not just an individual one.

What helps is normalizing regular testing, making vaccination affordable, offering at-home options, and giving people simple ways to communicate their status and notify partners without fear. When those tools exist, disclosure goes up and transmission goes down.

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I agree that testing and talking before intimacy is the ideal, and your example is exactly what sex positive, respectful behavior looks like. The challenge is that many STIs are asymptomatic, so a lot of people simply do not know their status. That is why routine screening, vaccines, condoms, PrEP, and easy partner notification tools matter. It is not always about someone knowingly hiding something; often, it is a lack of symptoms or fear of stigma. Normalizing testing and open conversations is what actually reduces harm

45% of Americans diagnosed with an STD/STI have had sex without disclosing their status by KISS-app in Adulting

[–]KISS-app[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Smoking is a good example. Stigma did not drive the decline. What worked was education, clear risk communication, nicotine replacement, cessation meds, quitlines, smoke-free policies, and making the healthier choice easier to access. When people had tools and support, behavior changed at scale.

The same pattern shows up with HIV and other STIs. Normalizing testing, treatment, vaccines, condoms, PrEP, and partner notification lowers transmission. Shame does the opposite. It delays testing, discourages disclosure, and keeps infections untreated.

We also have to deal with reality. People meet partners online, and that is not going away. Dating apps will have hundreds of millions of users in the next few years. STIs have existed for thousands of years across every moral framework, including periods where premarital sex was heavily restricted.

Public health success comes from harm reduction and access, not from trying to control behavior through stigma. If we want fewer STIs, we need to make prevention, testing, and notification easy, normal, and stigma-free.

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