CNN Does a Story on Porn Stars & STD’s- Danny Wylde, Dylan Ryan

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent

(CNN) — Dylan Ryan and Danny Wylde knew each other online — she’s read his blog, he’s seen her tweets — before they met in person in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. A bit awkward, they made small talk, spending an hour or so getting to know each other.

"When I’m with someone new, my primary bit of nervousness is I have no idea if they’ll like me, or be attracted to me, or be interested in me," Ryan says. "It’s sort of akin to a first date situation."

But this wasn’t a first date — it was strictly business. After chatting, Ryan and Wylde got to work, which in their case meant having sex. Ryan and Wylde (their stage names) are adult performers.

While hooking up with a new co-star can provoke some anxiety, there’s one thing they’re usually not anxious about: getting a sexually transmitted disease from their co-star, since both get tested for STDs at least once a month.
"Before you start shooting, you go online to see the other person’s test results," Wylde explains. "Or sometimes on set, before you start, they show you the results on paper."

Such diligence about STDs is a good idea for anyone having sex with a new partner, even if you’re not a porn star, says Dr. Craig Strafford, director of clinical research at the Holzer Clinic in Gallipolis, Ohio.

"It really shows they’re thinking conscientiously," Strafford says. "I think it really works."

Talent Testing Service, which does STD screenings for adult performers, routinely tests for HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea, according to Sixto Pacheco, president and CEO of the service. In addition, some performers opt for an additional panel of tests for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis.

So far, Ryan and Wylde say it’s worked for them. Ryan says in her eight years as an adult performer — she has about five sexual partners a month professionally — she hasn’t contracted a single STD. She says when she has sex with men outside work she always uses a condom. Wylde says about once a year he comes down with a case of chlamydia or gonorrhea.

"I take some pills and it goes away in a week," he says, adding that outside of work he has sex only with other performers, since he’s knows they’re regularly tested.
While the testing isn’t foolproof, it lowers the risk of getting infected. Combine that with condom use and the risk goes down even more.

HIV is a particularly tricky test, since it may provide a false negative if taken too soon after a person is exposed to HIV. This is because most people don’t produce enough antibodies for the test to detect until around a month after being exposed. Some people take three months or longer to produce detectable antibodies.

"I think about this all the time," says Ryan, who’s been an adult performer for eight years. "It’s by far the biggest risk in the industry. I think the one thing that gives me comfort — small comfort — is that the people I’m working with by and large have very strong safer sex practices because of what they do for a living."

Wylde says he’s not too concerned about contracting HIV since he has sex only with women, but he adds that he knows he’s taking at least a small risk.
"There’s risk in a lot of jobs," he says. "Professional athletes take risks."

When beginning a new relationship, many wonder what diseases they should get tested for. "It’s a very common question, for both males and females," Strafford says.

The whole story contains definitions of the various STDS you can read it here http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/19/std.protection.ep/index.html?iref=allsearch