---
title: "Happy Valentine's Day - A Safer Sex Reminder"
date: 2013-02-14T22:17:56-05:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/happy-valentines-day-a-safer-sex-reminder"
section: Blog (Archive)
---
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[From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# Happy Valentine's Day - A Safer Sex Reminder

By Rachel Walden • February 14, 2013

Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above.

Hey, it's Valentine's Day! Seems like a good time to revisit the topic of safer sex and sexually transmitted infections!  
  
  
  
The CDC just released a new [fact sheet on STIs](http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/STI-Estimates-Fact-Sheet-Feb-2013.pdf "Incidence, Prevalence, and Cost of Sexually  Transmitted Infections in the United States"), indicating that there are about 20 million new infections each year, and that young people (ages 15-24) account for about half of these.  
  
  
  
In its report, CDC provided the following recommendations for women for STI screening:  
  
- 
- All adults and adolescents should be tested at least once for HIV.
- Annual chlamydia screening for all sexually active women age 25 and under, as well as older women with risk factors such as new or multiple sex partners.
- Yearly gonorrhea screening for at-risk sexually active women (e.g., those with new or multiple sex partners, and women who live in communities with a high burden of disease).
- Syphilis, HIV, chlamydia, and hepatitis B screening for all pregnant women, and gonorrhea screening for at-risk pregnant women at the first prenatal visit, to protect the health of mothers and their infants.
- Trichomoniasis screening should be conducted at least annually for all HIV-infected women.

  
  
Have questions about sex, sexuality, STIs or related topics? Beloved sex-ed site Scarleteen has just launched a new [live help](http://www.scarleteen.com/blog/heather_corinna/2013/02/10/scarleteen_live "About the live help option") feature, providing anonymous live chats with Scarleteen staff and volunteers. The [full website](http://www.scarleteen.com/ "Scarleteen home"), which tackles all kinds of questions about sex, is an amazing resource for young people.

---

#### 2 Responses

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**Dana** on Feb 19, 2013

Great information on when to get tested and how often, I think people get a test and then they think they are safe forever. Great facts sheets and information! D

**LadyFlowersbySusan** on Mar 02, 2013

Wonderful information. Bravo. Here is a haiku from my med school days:  
  
  
  
Valentine's Night  
  
working a shift  
  
at the VD clinic  
  
  
  
Love yourself enough to protect yourself. Respect yourself and others will, too.

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- [Activism & Resources](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/activism-resources)
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- [Youth](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/youth)

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