概述-概要   Introduction - General Description

各种各样的性传播疾病引起非常不同的临床症状，但是其传播的途径是相同的：除了虫害侵扰性疾病以外，其他的性传播疾病由病毒、细菌或别的微生物所导致。这些微生物在身体温暖、潮湿的内表面滋生（尤其在性器官、口腔和直肠的黏膜表面更容易滋生）。如果脱离了这个适宜于其生长的环境，它们便很快死去。就因为这个简单的原因，人们不可能从卫生间坐便器、房门把手或小物件上沾染上它们（尽管在一些非常罕见的病例里，有人已经从用过的毛巾、内裤和别的衣服上染上疾病）。（在中国大陆或其他卫生条件缺乏的国家或地区，公共卫生间坐便器的卫生普遍恶劣，是否就象刚才所说的那样，恐怕需要仔细斟酌——译者注。）另一方面，性交为所有这些微生物从一个人到另一个人的传播提供了适宜的条件，它非常可能同时传播数种性传播疾病。虽然大多数性传播疾病能够被治愈，但是，它们却可以反复感染一个人。长期以来，在西方工业化国家，最常见的性传播疾病有衣原体感染、淋病和梅毒。从1980年代开始，一种新的、致命的疾病——艾滋病病毒-传染病（HIV-Infection）（艾滋病，AIDS）迅速从美国和西欧播散到世界其他国家，它在诸如非洲、亚洲和东欧等贫穷国家现今特别常见。

成人可治愈STDs全球统计（单位：百万）
Adults with curable STDs in millions

地图显示世界各大洲或地区的成人可治愈STDs病例数（单位：百万）。STDs包括：梅毒、淋病、衣原体感染、滴虫病和软下疳。世界总病例数约1.2亿。[资料来源：世界卫生组织（WHO），1999]
The map shows various world regions and their estimated number of adults (in millions) with curable STDs - syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, and chancroid. The total number world-wide is ca. 120 million.
Source: World Health Organization (WHO), 1999
 

The various STDs produce very different symptoms but are transmitted the same way: Except for the infestations, they are caused by viruses, bacteria, or other micro-organisms which thrive in the warm, moist inner surfaces of the body (particularly in the mucous membranes of the sex organs, mouth, and rectum). Outside of this favorable environment, they quickly die. For this simple reason, they cannot be picked up from toilet seats, doorknobs, or similar objects (although in some very rare cases some STDs have been picked up from used towels, underwear, and other clothing). On the other hand, sexual intercourse provides ideal conditions for all of these micro-organisms to be transmitted from one person to another. It is very well possible to become infected with several STDs at the same time. While most of them can be cured, one can catch them again and again. In the Western industrialized countries the most common STDs have long been chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Beginning in the 1980s, HIV-Infection (AIDS), a new, deadly disease, has quickly spread from the USA and Western Europe to the rest of the world and is now especially common in the poor countries of Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe.