Safer sex? Yes please!

The “Ohne Dings kein Bums” campaign, which can roughly be translated as “No glove, no love”, was a widespread safe sex campaign slogan in the 1990s. And the Federal Office of Public Health’s “Stop Aids” campaign had an impact. The topic of HIV was omnipresent, as was the fear of becoming infected with the disease. 

Today, the sexually transmitted disease has lost some of its horror. Thanks to medical progress, people who contract HIV can usually live a largely normal life. For the first time since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the early 1980s, the FOPH also reported fewer than 300 cases in 2020. By comparison, in the 1990s there were an average of 1,300 cases per year.

Nevertheless, we must certainly never underestimate the risk of sexually transmitted infections. According to figures published by the World Health Organisation WHO, on average, everyone contracts an STI once in their lifetime. So it’s important to know what STIs are out there, how to avoid infection and what symptoms to look out for. 

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus and it can be transmitted through contact with sperm, vaginal fluid, the anus, blood and breast milk. HIV damages or destroys certain cells of the immune system, making it harder for the body to fight off other infections. If HIV goes untreated, it can lead to AIDS. More than 37 million people worldwide are infected with HIV or have already developed AIDS. In Switzerland, the number is around 16,600.

Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection in Switzerland. It is most common among young men and women under the age of 24 and can be transmitted by oral, vaginal and anal sex. Around 70% of women and roughly half of the men who have the disease have no or few symptoms. If they do, they usually occur two to six weeks after infection in the form of a burning sensation and pain while urinating and discharge from the vagina or urethra. Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics or may heal spontaneously. However, if untreated, it can lead to infertility in both sexes. 

Gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases worldwide and can be transmitted through oral, vaginal and anal sex. Symptoms usually occur two to seven days after infection. Men may initially experience redness and swelling at the penis opening with pain during urination and a pus-like discharge. Women may also experience increased discharge and pain during urination. It can be treated with antibiotics.

Syphilis is transmitted by bacteria through oral, vaginal and anal sex and can become chronic. The first symptoms can appear up to three months after sexual contact with an infected person in the form of red spots, lumps at the entry point of the pathogen and swelling of the lymph nodes. The symptoms may disappear without treatment, but the disease and its transmissibility remain. If detected in good time, syphilis can be treated and cured with antibiotics.

There are different types of hepatitis viruses. Hepatitis A is more likely to affect men who have sex with men. Symptoms include acute fever, feeling sick, jaundice, loss of appetite and nausea. It can take up to 50 days for symptoms to appear after infection. Hepatitis B is primarily transmitted through body fluids, such as semen or blood. Symptoms can be very non-specific, ranging from loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting to abdominal and joint pain, fever and a rash. Hepatitis C is primarily transmitted via blood-to-blood contact, but rarely through sexual contact.