Most students are not aware of what the most common STDs are, and are also unaware of whether or not they have them. Though the word HPV does not set off the bevy of warning bells that HIV does, it should. HPV has no permanent cure, and often has no symptoms. The strain of HPV that causes genital warts, and is therefore symptomatic in a very obvious and uncomfortable way, is only one of 80 varieties of the virus. The others are asymptomatic more often than not, which makes them especially easy to transmit.
Few people realize that they carry the virus.
In women, HPV often is linked to cervical cancer. And since many sexually active women never even think of getting tested for HPV, they only realize that they carry the virus when they display the more serious symptoms of cervical cancer. Chlamydia, the most common STD nationwide, is also asymptomatic in most cases. But like HPV, the virus can lead to more serious health threats, especially in women. But without knowing that one is infected with chlamydia, treatment is obviously impossible.