Have you ever contracted an STD from a swing partner?

[Alura]

There have been a lot of threads about STDs lately so I think there is a need for a more basic poll. Have you ever caught an STD from someone in the lifestyle? Now, If I could just figure out how to do it...

Mr. Alura

[Alura]

Just bumping this back up to the top. The results are getting interesting.

Mr. Alura

[Spoomonkey]

Interesting

It would seem that the rubber-free are the silent majority... Those who use condoms (and I am one of those guys) seem to make the most noise...

Spoomonkey

[lovers]

One option that we didn't see listed might be:

"Those who go either way and have/have not caught an STD."

A fair number of people may fall into that category.

[Miss_Piggy]

Just as I was thinking, "A-HA, now *this* poll seems to be straight forward enough" I scrolled down to find a suggestion for a selection that was neglected in the poll!
This is why I'm no longer in the poll business.

heehee

BTW - We've never had any STDs and we use protection (knock on wood:slam")

~Piggy

[Alura]

Originally posted by lovers
One option that we didn't see listed might be:

"Those who go either way and have/have not caught an STD."

A fair number of people may fall into that category.

Now why didn't I think of that??? As my ol' pappy used to say, "Shoulda-dones don't count."

Maybe folks can just vote their favorite or most often used way. I don't know how to change it now. Julie, can you bail me out here?

Mr. Alura

[leftcoastcouple]

Thanks for asking the question, Alura. I tried to a month or two ago in the midst of another thread and was told by another member that, to paraphrase, if my wife and I were that paranoid, we ought to consider giving up the idea of swinging.

We thought we were just being realistic. And if your poll's results continue in the direction they're headed, we will relax a great deal, believe me.

We've been offline the better part of two months and find the many new members and trains of thoughts intriguing. Always something new--and interesting--going on around here...

[Alura]

You're Welcome, LeftCoastCouple. I must say I'm surprised at the results.

In order to get some more votes on this poll, I'm going to bump it up one more time so it doesn't get lost. Very interesting statistics so far!

Mr. Alura

[Corwyn13]

Interesting and disturbing poll!
I noticed that the thread on squirters pro con
started exactly (just about) the same time this thread did.
That one has had over 4000 views and several 100 responses.
This one less than 10 responses and less than 30 votes.
Now I KNOW that this isn't as interesting of a topic but it should be at least of cursory interest.

According to the CDC over a million new cases of herpes are reported each year. And according to some estimated this only represents 10-20 % of the actual cases because most people suffer such mild symptoms that they do not recognize them while others are asymptomatic carriers.

Some studies indicated that as many as 80% of the general population carries the herpes 1 or 2 virus. and this is just ONE std!


Yet miraclulously here on this board, in a population that is statistically more sexual, has/had more partners than average, not a SINGLE person, who plays unprotected has contracted an STD?

As a newbie looking to get into this lifestyle, this should be a concern and it also should raise a HUGE red flag!

What's the old say - there are statistics, there are damned statistic and there is the truth. Well the odds are, it isn't the numbers that are lying!


C
flamethrow

[Miss_Piggy]

I also find it disturbing that there is no one admitting to ever having gotten an STD!
Does this mean that the people who have gotten an STD are simply refusing the vote?
Or, does it mean that swingers just don't generally get STDs?
Or, maybe swingers don't realise they have STDs (-perhaps there is an overabundant feeling of invinsibility? - really I'm just speculating).

Dito to Corwyn. I'm a little disturbed.

[Alura]

I have no idea why the figures are coming out this way. It was specified that the STD had to have been aquired in the lifestyle and perhaps that accounts for some of these lop-sided results.

It may well be that married couples are the most STD free people in the population. Well, I heard a couple of years ago that lesbians are the least affected by AIDS, but that group probably has almost no contact with gay men who, along with intervenous drug users, are the most infected group. It would seem that couples who practice intermarital sex would have very little contact with gay men. I also doubt that there is a very large percentage of intervenous drug users among married couples, but Hell, I don't know that.

In theory, if there were a thousand couples who were free of STDs and who played only with those within the group, no one would get STDs. Of course, you can't count on people staying within the group.

Let's try to keep this poll from getting buried. For now, at least, the sample is far too small to be meaningful.

Mr. Alura

[VegasLee]

Someone above stated 80% but the information here seems to show closer to 20% to 25%

We have to doctors that are in the lifestyle write articles for our sites and they have stated studies have shown over the last 20 years that the rate of STD's in the lifestyle to be a very small percentage of what they are in the so called "normal" world.

I also read an article two weeks ago that showed that the rate of STD's in teenages that "where saving theirself for marriage" was just as high as it was in teenagers that admitted to having sex on a regular basis. (guess they where not saving their self to well)

From the CDC site dated March 2nd 2004

"Results of a nationally representative study show that genital herpes infection is common in the United States. Nationwide, at least 45 million people ages 12 and older, or one out of five adolescents and adults, have had genital HSV infection. Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, the number of Americans with genital herpes infection increased 30 percent.

HSV-2 infection is more common in women (approximately one out of four women) than in men (almost one out of five). This may be due to male-to-female transmissions being more efficient than female-to-male transmission."

[good times]

I know that polls like these aren't very scientific but this poll seems to indicate what I have come to believe. That is that for your average people stds are rarer than we are led to believe. As I have indicated in other posts, I have spent a good bit of bandwidth studying the std problem and have come to the conclusion that the people that derive their income from researching, studying and making estimates of the scope of the std problem derive much benefit from the tactic of instilling fear in all of us by exagerating the problem. I'm 45 years old and have always been an outgoing and socially active person and have only met 2 people so far that have ever had an std. So it is no surprise to me that no one answering this pole has had an std.

[Mich149]

Originally posted by Spoomonkey
Interesting

It would seem that the rubber-free are the silent majority... Those who use condoms (and I am one of those guys) seem to make the most noise...

Spoomonkey

Mr. Spoo - if your condoms makes noise you should really get some lube

[Doug19482000]

I can't figuer out how a lesbian could give another lesbian AIDS
unless she had recently had sex with a male carrier. It is my understanding the virus is not present in saliva, tears or female lubrucation. I used this argument in the 80's when a group of religous zelots where preaching AIDS was gods punishment for homosexual activity.