STDs/STIs in women can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which may result in infertility (difficulty getting pregnant).
Men with STDs/STIs also can have problems with infertility.1
Additionally, a person with an STD/STI other than HIV is two to five times more likely to contract the HIV virus than a person without an STD/STI. If a person is already HIV positive, having another STD/STI increases the chances that he or she will pass the virus on to his or her sexual partner.2
Some STDs/STIs, such as human papillomavirus, viral hepatitis, and HIV, increase the risk of some forms of cancer.3,4
Certain STDs/STIs can pass from a pregnant woman to the fetus in her womb. The effects can be life threatening, as is the case with HIV. Other STDs/STIs can cause a range of disorders in the infant, including deafness, blindness, and intellectual disability.