I'm new to this, STI risk?

[anonymous1701]

My boyfriend and I are both virgins, and have never been with another sexual partner. Recently, we have started to engage in activites that I have read in Scarleteen's articles pose a risk for STIs. But because we have never been involved in any sort of sex before with anyone else, does that eliminate the risk? I don't see how either of us could have contracted an STI before, and therefore have passed it on to the other now.

[Heather]

Ultimately, the best move is to start your sexual life with partners using safer sex. If a person wants to do the best they can to prevent infections, that's just the way to go.

But indeed, presuming everyone involved is being honest (and often people aren't, because for any number of reasons they feel they can't be), and have never had any kind of intimate contact with anyone else -- whether or not it was sexual for anyone involved -- then the risks would be very low. Since most people HAVE had intimate contact of at least some kind with others in their lives (sharing cups, kissing relatives, etc.), though, usually there is at least a risk of the oral Herpes virus at play, since more people have it than don't, and most people contract it non-sexually.

So, long story short: there's really no such thing as no-risk intimate or sexual contact when it comes to infections and diseases (and that's not even accounting for things like colds, flus, etc.). But if and when people have not had any kind of sexual contact with others at all, but only general intimate contact, then the risks can be considered very low with the exception of the Herpes virus.

If and when someone wants there to be as low a risk as possible and still engage in sexual activities with partners, regardless of sexual history, then they'll need to do so using safer sex practices. But only not having intimate contact at all, ever, puts people in a no-risk situation, and that'll be the case for pretty much no one, ever.

[anonymous1701]

Great, thanks for being so clear! I just wanted to say a big thanks, to you and everyone at Scarleteen for being such an amazing resource and for making lives a little easier. I really appreciate what you're doing here

[Heather]

You're so welcome, and thanks so much for such a lovely thank you!