In the U.S. each year, Choose...500,0001 million15 million65 million people acquire a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The majority of these individuals are under age Choose...40322519. In the U.S., the most common STD is Choose...HIV/AIDSgenital warts (HPV infection)Herpessyphilis. Factors that increase the risk of contracting an STD include having multiple sexual partners, believing that all STDs are easily curable, contracting an STD with mild or no symptoms, not seeking or not correctly using treatment for an STD, drug and alcohol use, associating STDs with sinfulness, dirtiness, immorality, and personal irresponsibility, and Choose...denialnegative value judgmentsmisinformationerroneous risk assessment, exemplified by the belief "it can't happen to me." Two common STDs are trichomonas and Gardnerella, which are vagina infections that can be passed to male partners. STDs caused by bacteria include chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Over Choose...20 percent35 percent50 percent80 percent of people infected with chlamydia or gonorrhea have mild or no symptoms, which means they can unwittingly pass on the infection to their sexual partners. STDs caused by viruses include herpes, genital warts, Hepatitis B, Molluscum contagiosum, and HIV/AIDS. Genital warts is particularly worrisome because its cause, human papilloma virus (HPV), is associated with an extremely high risk of Choose...cervical cancersterilitypelvic inflammatory diseasetesticular cancer. HIV/AIDS, caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), weakens the Choose...heartimmune systemendocrine systembrain and makes an infected individual susceptible to infections and cancers. There is no way to rid the body of HIV, although many infected individuals can be kept alive by anti-HIV drugs. As no vaccine exists against HIV, only prevention can protect people from this deadly disease. One aspect of prevention is AIDS testing: checking to see if a person has been exposed to HIV. Prevention of STDs involves accepting fully one's at-risk behaviors and communicating with sexual partners about one's own potential risk and seeking similar information from a potential partner.