[STDs today: risk groups and prevention tools]

The importance of specific programs for controlling and preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STD) has been widely recognized, considering that there exists no treatment that results in complection resolution of sexually transmitted viral pathologies, that many STDs have long periods of infectivity and clinical latency, and that there is a high risk of sequelae and of related oncogenesis. However, STD prevention can be quite complex, in that a variety of diseases with diverse clinical and epidemiological characteristics are currently defined as "STDs". One of the main aspects of STD prevention is the identification of population groups considered to be at risk of transmission and that play an important role in maintaining the current epidemic status of STDs in the general population (i.e., sexually promiscuous persons). As with other diseases, the prevention of STDs is generally classified into primary prevention and secondary prevention. Primary prevention consists of protecting healthy individuals from acquiring the infection and mainly consists of promoting safe-sex (including barrier methods), performing vaccination, and conducting information and education campaigns. The objective of secondary prevention is to prevent the disease from further evolving in persons who are already infected or ill, including the prevention of complications, by providing proper medical care and treatment. The main tools of secondary prevention of STDs are: early diagnosis of cases, early and targeted therapy, and management of sexual partners.