Someone can get an STI through sex and through other ways of transmission.
Transmission through sex
- Through vaginal sex, anal sex or oral sex with someone who has an STI, without using a condom.
- By sharing sex toys without using a condom or without cleaning it properly with water and soap first. For instance: dildo, vibrator. Always use a new condom when a different person uses the sex toy or clean it very well with water and soap.
- Through contact with blisters (herpes), sores (syphilis) or genital warts on someone’s skin.
Transmission in other ways
- A mother with an STI can pass on the infection to the foetus, during pregnancy or delivery or when breast-feeding.
- By sharing injection material.
- By sharing your toothbrush (hepatitis B), towels and sheets (pubic lice and scabies) with someone.
- By skin-to-skin contact (lying naked against each other).
Talking to your partner and the doctor
If you have an STI you can infect other people. Talk to your partner about it and encourage them to go to a doctor.
Make sure you both go to your general practitioner or municipal public health service (GGD). By informing your current partner you also protect yourself. If your STI has been cured and you have sex again with your partner who has not been treated, they can infect you again.
Do not have sex during STI treatment.
Do not only inform your current sex partners, but also ex-partners and other sexual contacts. They can also be infected and pass the STI on to their partner(s) without noticing. By informing your sex partners, you help to prevent STIs spreading further. If you do not want to tell your partner or ex-partners you have an STI yourself you can also warn them anonymously, without mentioning your name (via partnerwaarschuwing.nl).
