Sex Ed

Mosquitoes cannot transmit HIV. This is one of the most well-established facts in HIV science, and it holds true regardless of how many mosquitoes are in an area or how often someone gets bitten. If you’ve had this question, you’re not alone — and the answer is clear: a mosquito bite carries no risk of

Yes, you can get an STD without having sex. While sexual intercourse is the most common way these infections spread, it’s far from the only way. Skin-to-skin contact, blood exposure, oral contact, and even shared personal items can all transmit certain infections. Understanding helps clarify what testing makes sense for your situation. Many people are

Kissing is one of the most common forms of physical contact, and it’s natural to wonder what, if anything, can be passed through it. The short answer is that some STDs can spread through kissing, though the level of transmission varies quite a bit depending on the infection. Understanding which ones and under what circumstances

If you’ve ever wondered whether you can get an STD from a hot tub, you’re not alone — it’s one of the most common questions people have about sexual health and water. The short answer is that getting an STD simply from soaking in a hot tub is extremely unlikely. Understanding why that’s the case

Oral STD symptoms can appear in the mouth, on the tongue, along the gums, or in the throat — and they often look a lot like common, everyday conditions. A sore throat, a mouth ulcer, or a small bump inside the cheek can each have many causes, which makes it genuinely difficult to know when

Burning when you pee is one of those symptoms that’s hard to ignore. It can feel alarming, but it’s also one of the most common reasons people look into STD testing. Several STDs can cause this symptom, and so can a few non-STD conditions. Understanding what’s behind it — and how testing can give you

The trichomoniasis window period is the time between exposure and when a test can reliably detect the infection. There is no published detection window for trichomoniasis — the 5-to-28-day figure often quoted is CDC’s range for when symptoms appear, which is a different thing. In practice clinics advise testing about a week after exposure, and

The syphilis window period is the time between exposure to the bacteria and when a blood test can accurately detect it. No health authority publishes a syphilis detection window. In practice, clinics test early and then repeat at around six weeks and again at three months, because antibody levels take time to rise. Understanding this

The HIV window period is the time between a potential exposure and when a test can accurately detect the virus. Understanding this window takes a lot of the guesswork out of testing timing — and knowing which test you’re using makes all the difference. Different tests have different detection windows, ranging from about 10 days

The herpes window period is the time between exposure to HSV and when a blood test can reliably detect the virus. CDC puts it plainly: after exposure it can take up to 16 weeks or more for current tests to detect infection. No health authority publishes a lower bound, so 16 weeks is the figure