Where Do STDs Come From?

Posting Date: 02/08/1999

Email question: If 52 couples who did not have STDs switched partners every week for a year, would any of them develop STDs? What is the origin of STDs and how are they transmitted?

Dr. Dean: If everyone was free from STDs, no one would develop STDs by switching partners with others who were also in that group.

Sexual diseases probably originate as diseases already in other parts of the body. For instance, there can be herpes cold sores in your mouth.

Skin is everywhere on your body. The disease is probably transmitted and adapted to a particular environment, and then it becomes sexually transmitted and spreads.

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