Sex Education Glossary

ABSTINENCE

Choosing not to have any kind of sexual intercourse. For abstinence to be effective, people must not have any kind of sex, whether vaginal, oral, or anal. Some people wait until they are past their teens. Some people wait until they get married. Others choose not to have sex at all. Choosing when or if to have sex is a hard decision for everyone. People must take responsibility and accept whatever might happen because of a choice they make. ABSTINENCE from sex is the surest way not to get STDs or pregnant.

ACQUIRED

In disease terms, something that you get from someone else. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, are ACQUIRED.

ACUTE

Not lasting a very long time. A cold that lasts only two or three days could be referred to as ACUTE.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

AIDS is a measure of how much damage HIV has done to a person's immune system. It is not a disease. AIDS can develop after someone gets HIV. After HIV has been inside someone's body for a long time it can weaken or destroy their immune system. The immune system can't fight germs any more. They get different diseases or illnesses, also called opportunistic infections. Sometimes a doctor can still find that a healthy person with HIV has AIDS.

AIRBORNE VIRUS

Germs people get through sneezing, coughing or touching their mouth, eyes or nose. We get germs for colds and flu this way, but not STDs.

ANAL SEX

When a man puts his penis inside someone's anus. This is also called anal intercourse. People can get STDs this way if they do it to someone or if someone does it to them without one person wearing a latex condom. This could happen if infected blood from an anus got into the hole at the end of a penis. Also infected semen or pre-seminal fluid could get in or around an anus. Slang term: Greek sex.

ANONYMOUS HIV TEST

A person doesn't give his or her name or address to the people who help them take an HIV test. Instead, the person is given a number and uses that as their name. When they go back to get their test results they give that number. This way, no one else can know the results unless the person who got tested has told him or her.

ANTIBIOTIC

A medicine that kills bacteria and some other germs, but not viruses.

ANTIBODY

A germ fighter. The immune system makes these when it sees a germ get inside the body. After they are made, they go into the blood. Then they find the germs and help kill them. For each different germ there is one special ANTIBODY that the immune system makes.

ANUS

The "butt hole, " or small opening in a persons rear-end. This is where feces--solid waste leaves the body.

ASYMPTOMATIC INFECTION

A state in which the person is infected by a germ or virus but does not have any signs or symptoms. This could also refer to a CARRIER. A good example of someone with an ASYMPOTMATIC INFECTION would be a person who has herpes who is between outbreaks.