Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
The Most Common STDs
(No cure at present)
Other diseases that can be transmitted through sex include: trichomoniasis, yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, pubic lice, and scabies.
If you think you might have a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), you need to get tested. Don't just hope the STD will go away. It won't!
After Treatment
If your health care provider tells you to come back for a follow-up exam after treatment for a bacterial STD, be sure to do so. Postpone sex until your health care provider says you and your partner are infection-free.
If you have a viral STD (e.g., genital warts, genital herpes), learn as much as you can about your infection; inform past, present, and/or potential sexual partners; and use special precautions before having sex.
Remember: Bacterial STDs can be caught again and again - especially if your partner is not treated. Some viral infections also can be caught repeatedly - you just catch a different variation of that virus type.
- Always use a latex condom. Condoms can help prevent HIV and some STDs from passing between partners. You should use a condom for vaginal, anal, and oral sex.
- Both men and women should carry condoms and insist that they be used.
- Use a water-based lubricant in addition to a condom. Don't use oil-based lubricants. Oils in hand creams, massage oils, Vaseline, etc., can cause the condom to leak or break.
- Don't have sex when you're drunk or high. Alcohol and drugs can cloud your judgment and make it harder to follow safer sex guidelines.
- Don't allow any of your partner's body fluids to enter your body. Body fluids can enter through the vagina, penis, anus, mouth, and any cut or open sore.
- You also may be safer if you limit the number of your sexual partners. But remember, you must always follow safer sex guidelines - even if you have only one partner.
- Don't use injectable drugs/share dirty needles or syringes. (This can spread viruses such as HIV, and Hepatitis B and C.)
- Do a genital self-exam regularly to check for sores, discharge, growths, or anything unusual.
In Idaho, legal authority for regulations protecting the health of the people of Idaho is granted to the Board of Health and Welfare. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has adopted regulations that contain the official requirements governing the reporting, control, and prevention of reportable diseases and conditions. In short, this means that medical providers are legally required to report certain conditions to public health. These guidelines form the Idaho Reportable Disease List. If you are a provider and need a current list, please contact one of SIPH's Epidemiologists below.
- Jeff Doerr at 208-478-6321
- Evan Bischoff at 208-239-5231
- Epi Line at 208-478-6303
Reporting a Case
- Disease or condition reported
- Patient's name, age, gender, address (including city and county), phone
- Physician's name, address, phone
24-hour Reporting: (800) 632-5927
