Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Courtney Kline
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Symptoms: Some common symptoms include fever, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, mouth ulcers.
Is it treatable: Medicines can fight the HIV virus, but there is no cure. Antiretroviral therapy allow people to live a longer more comfortable life who have the virus.
Prevention: To prevent this STD, it is important to not have multiple sexual partners, to not share needles, and to use condoms correctly.
Later Complications: Some later complications include Tuberculosis, Cancer, and Wastes Syndrome are all complications from HIV that can reduce one’s quality of life later in life.
Herpes
Symptoms: Common symptoms of herpes include sores, vesicles, and ulcers. Many people mistake herpes for bug bites or razor burn.
Is it treatable: Yes, Herpes is treatable. There are three common medicines which can treat the first episode of Herpes including acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir.
Prevention: Prevention for herpes is similar to prevention for all other sexually transmitted diseases. An individual should refrain from having multiple different sexual partners and should use a condom.
Later Complications: Some later complications for herpes include bladder problems, newborn infection, other sexually transmitted infections, meningitis, and rectal inflammation (particularly in men who have sex with other men).
Chlamydia
Symptoms: Some common symptoms of Chlamydia include abnormal vaginal discharge in women, painful urination, burning and itching of the genitalia, and pain and swelling of the genitalia.
Is it treatable: Yes, it is treatable. Oral antibodies including azithromycin and doxycycline should clear up the infection within a week or two.
Prevention: Individuals should not have multiple sexual partners and should consult their doctors immediately if they notice any discomfort or unfamiliarity.
Gonorrhea
Symptoms: Some common symptoms of Gonorrhea include pain and sensitivity when urinating, the need to urinate more frequently, sore throat, and swelling and pain of the vagina/testes.
Is it treatable: Yes, gonorrhea is treatable. Modern antibiotics can cure most infections, but many drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea are starting to develop. A vaccine is currently being engineered to prevent the gonorrhea infection.
Prevention: Refraining from sex and asking your partner to be tested for STDs is the best way to prevent being infected with gonorrhea.
Syphilis
Symptoms: Syphilis develops in multiple stages. At the primary stage, a sore called a chancre develops which later develops into a rash that covers the entire body.
Is it treatable: Yes, it is treatable if diagnosed at an early stage. Treatment for all individuals is an injection of penicillin which can stop the progression of the disease if it has been caught in less than a year.
Prevention: Syphilis prevention includes avoiding recreational drugs, using a condom, and being monogamous with a partner who has not been infected.
Later Complications: Later complications of Syphilis usually occur in people who do not get treatment. These include damage to the brain, nerves, blood vessels, liver, bones and joints.
Trichomoniasis
Symptoms: Most people who are infected with Trichomoniasis do not show any signs or symptoms. Men may feel itching or irritation inside the penis, burning after urination or ejaculation, or some discharge from the penis. Women may notice itching, burning, redness or soreness of the genitals, discomfort with urination, or a thin discharge with an unusual smell that can be clear, white, yellowish, or greenish.
Is it treatable: Yes, Trichomoniasis is treatable and can be cured with a single dose of prescription antibiotic medication including metronidazole or tinidazole.
Prevention: Using latex condoms correctly every time you have sex will help reduce the risk of getting or spreading trichomoniasis. Avoiding sex or sex with multiple different partners also prevents this STD.
Public Lice
Symptoms: Some symptoms of public lice include a skin reaction that causes skin to turn bluish-gray in color and sores in the genital area due to bites and scratching
Is it treatable: Yes, Pubic lice is treatable and can often be treated with medicines that contain a substance called permethrin.
Prevention: Some preventative measures for avoiding public lice include avoiding sexual or intimate contact with people you know have pubic lice until they have been treated. Bathing or showering often and keeping your bedding clean can also prevent the spread of the lice.
Later Complications: Even after treating public lice, the scratching can irritate your skin, or can lead to other infections such as impetigo (a bacterial skin infection) or furunculosis (boils on the skin).
Hepatitis B
Symptoms: Common symptoms of Hepatitis B include the yellowing of the skin and eyes, dark urine, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Is it treatable: No, there is no specific treatment for acute hepatitis B. Therefore, care is aimed at maintaining comfort and adequate nutritional balance, including replacement of fluids lost from vomiting and diarrhea. However, chronic hepatitis B infection can be treated with drugs, including oral antiviral agents
Prevention: The most effective prevention for hepatitis B is the hepatitis B vaccine.
Later Complications: Some later complication of Hepatitis B include liver cancer and even liver failure
Human Papilloma Virus
Symptoms: There are no detectable signs of the human papilloma virus, but some people develop genital warts.
Is it treatable: No, there is no treatment for the actual virus. However, there are treatments for genital warts, cervical pre-cancer, and other HPV related cancers.
Prevention: Get vaccinated between the ages 11-12 and get screened for cervical cancer. Catch-up vaccines are recommended for males through age 21 and for females through age 26
Later Complications: If you are pregnant and have HPV, you can get genital warts or develop abnormal cell changes on your cervix. Abnormal cell changes can be found with routine cervical cancer screening. You should get routine cervical cancer screening even when you are pregnant.
Mycoplasma Genitalium
Symptoms: Some common symptoms of this STD include watery discharge from the penis, burning sensation in the penis when urinating, abnormal discharge from the vagina, discomfort on urination, and bleeding between periods, often following sex.
Is it treatable: Yes, mycoplasma genitalium is treatable. Effective antibiotic treatment is available on prescription from a doctor.
Prevention: Some preventative measures against this STD include practicing safer sex. No sex until antibiotic treatment is completed and your usual sexual partner has completed treatment is recommended for people who have been diagnosed with this STD as well as a follow-up test to make sure that treatment has cleared the infection.