{"id":25791,"date":"2025-12-01T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=25791"},"modified":"2025-12-22T19:27:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:27:39","slug":"sexually-transmitted-infections-stis-stds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/sexually-transmitted-infections-stis-stds\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking down the stigma around STIs","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHave you been tested?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We know it\u2019s not the most comfortable question, but the conversation could make all the difference for your health.<\/p>\n<p>Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) impact young people the hardest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2018, nearly 50 percent of new infections occurred in people ages 15-24.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/provider\/matthew-pippenger\/\">Matthew Pippenger, PA-C<\/a>, treats a large number of STI cases at <a href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/location\/northpointe-orthopedics\/\">MultiCare Rockwood Northpointe Orthopedics &amp; Sports Medicine<\/a> \u2014 the clinic offers on-site student health services for Eastern Washington University.<\/p>\n<p>Pippenger is the clinic\u2019s medical manager. He understands that talking about STIs can be awkward, but says that it shouldn\u2019t be that way with your health care provider.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt all comes down to being comfortable and acknowledging \u2018yes, this exists,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re here to help, not judge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Making STI screening part of your routine health care will also help reduce stigma, says <a href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/provider\/mary-p-fairchok\/\">Mary Fairchok, MD<\/a>, MultiCare\u2019s infection prevention medical director and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marybridge.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mary Bridge Children\u2019s<\/a> pediatric infectious diseases medical director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHealth care is health care,\u201d she says. \u201cJust because you\u2019re diagnosed with an STI, it\u2019s not a judgment of your character.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The key things to remember: Be aware, know how to prevent infection and don\u2019t be afraid to talk about it.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Know the facts about STIs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The most common STIs in the United States are chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis\/congenital syphilis, herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). While the COVID-19 pandemic initially led to a decrease in new STI cases \u2014 likely because of social distancing \u2014 rates of gonorrhea and syphilis have since surged.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHave you been tested?\u201d We know it\u2019s not the most comfortable question, but the conversation could make all the difference for your health. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) impact young people the hardest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2018, nearly 50 percent of new infections occurred in people ages 15-24. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":115,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-living","category-primary-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Breaking down the stigma around STIs - MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), symptoms, prevention and treatment options.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/sexually-transmitted-infections-stis-stds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking down the stigma around STIs - 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