STI screening - what is it? STIs in women and men. STI: List

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) do not belong to a particular sex and age group and do not depend on the social status of the patient. By negligence, an absolutely normal person, leading a relatively healthy lifestyle, can become a victim of an STI.

STI - what is it?

STIs are ailments that appear in the body as a result of an unprotected sexual intercourse. As medical practice shows, on average, up to three dozen pathogens can be transmitted per act, the most frequent of which are ureaplasmas, gonococci, chlamydia and trichomonads.

Morality sickness

It is possible to call STI an illness of morality, which arises from promiscuous connections and a frivolous attitude towards the elementary rules of hygiene. Therefore, often many infected do not go to clinical institutions, if the disease occurs without particularly pronounced symptoms, and engage in self-medication. Although sometimes the infection can remain in the body and is not noticed at all, but this in no way means that it does not do any harm, because in this case it often has a chronic character.

Causes of infection

As mentioned above, the main causes of infection lie in the very abbreviation of STI, what it is, described earlier. However, infection occurs not only through sexual contact, but also with improper hygiene in public toilets. Some sources call this path of the disease mythical, however, as practice shows, some bacteria are able to survive in the external environment for up to several hours without the support of a living organism.

In general, any neglect of hygiene means: the use of a common towel, linen - can lead to infection of STIs.

Some chronic STIs, such as HIV, can also be transmitted in utero from mother to child or through milk while breastfeeding. In addition, viruses have been modified over the years, and in modern practice, there have been cases in which infection of the STI occurred by a drip, namely, with a kiss, and also through blood and lymph.

Clinical picture

Often the symptoms of STIs occur locally, in places of direct infection. Therefore, the main signs that infection with the infection has occurred, can include burning and itching when urinating. In addition to such extremely unpleasant sensations, reddening on the external genitalia or a white coating with swollen and blistering may appear. Characteristic substances from the genital tract in the form of a foam may be released.

With the progression of infection in the human body, a few weeks after infection, there may be a pulling pain in the lower abdomen, a urge to frequent urination. The sexual act can be accompanied by unpleasant, and sometimes painful sensations. With some types of STI, the disease can be accompanied by a slight increase in body temperature, pain and aching muscles, darkening of urine.

Sometimes infection is asymptomatic for the body, which is extremely dangerous - the patient does not have the opportunity to feel the changes and to contact the clinic in time to provide medical assistance. As a result, this leads to disastrous consequences, accompanied by chronic diseases.

Varieties

A normal healthy person hardly ever thought about the types of STIs. The list of infections transmitted in a very pleasant way is striking. In general, the most common infections can be divided depending on the severity of the symptoms.

Classification by degrees of gravity

Easy degree:

• Candidiasis (caused by the fungus of the Candida family, accompanied by minor inflammation and itching of the genital organs, in addition to sexual infection, can occur with the abuse of alcohol and tobacco, as well as with the weakening of the body's defenses or antibiotic treatment);
• Donovanosis (often spread in hot countries and differs by slow progression).

Average degree:

• Herpes of the genitals (accompanied not only by difficulties with urination, but also by general malaise);
• Papillomavirus (expressed by a painful rash in the genital area, accompanied by an increase in body temperature).

Heavy:

• Syphilis (retained in the body for a long time - up to 10 years, the rash spreads throughout the body);
• Gonorrhea (infection affects most internal organs, there is a possibility of infection when swimming in public pools and visiting public toilets);
• HIV infection (currently incurable, extreme severity against the background of other STIs, the list of which was presented above).

STIs and women

STIs in women often take place in a different way, so when speaking about the clinical picture of the disease in detail, it is necessary to separate the female and male infections. For example, chlamydia in women is accompanied by frequent bleeding from the cervix, regardless of the menstrual cycle, painful urination, vaginal discharge with an unpleasant odor, and pulling and cutting pains in the abdomen.

It should also be noted that such STIs in women as candidiasis are not a terrible disease and are found in every second, the people still call this disease a milkmaid. But as for trichomoniasis, in women it proceeds more painfully and heavier than that of men, accompanied by continuous itching around the genitals.

In general, women are more susceptible to STIs than men, and these diseases can address deplorable consequences, down to infertility.

STIs in men

Unlike the female body, the male carries some infectious diseases more easily, and some, on the contrary, are heavier. Here, for example, candidiasis, which does not represent a particular danger for women, in the male body is manifested much more deplorable symptoms: sexual intercourse with candida infection can cause an intolerable acute pain. In addition, throughout the disease, the general unsatisfactory condition of the patient may be accompanied by itching and burning of the penis, pain during urination, and, of course, there is a major sign of fungal disease - a white coating on the penis.

For men, STIs - what is it? This is sometimes a pain in sexual intercourse, so no joys of life during the disease and can not be. Here, for example, trichomoniasis is capable and at all to cause development of a prostatitis, as well as a clamidiosis. However, the latter does not have pronounced symptoms when it enters the male body. Therefore, sometimes it can be quite painless.

STI and pregnancy

It's no secret that from the very first minutes of intrauterine development the mother is fully responsible for the health of her baby. Therefore, STIs during pregnancy are not only a problem with the health of the mother, but also a great threat to the life of the unborn baby.

With such serious diseases as gonorrhea, a child can get infected through the placenta directly during the birth process, which is dangerous for girls with infection of the genitals, and for boys with the defeat of eyeballs, up to blindness. When a woman with syphilis is pregnant, the infection can be transmitted to the fetus in utero, and the child is already born infected with the disease.

With regard to genital herpes and human papillomavirus, the risk of infection from mother to child during fetal gestation and passage of the birth canal is extremely small, but this does not mean that it is absent, sometimes these diseases can provoke miscarriage.

STI in adolescents

Symptoms of STIs in adolescents almost do not differ from the clinical picture in adults, but I would like to note that infections that are sexually transmitted in such a young and tender body are a problem of a rather social nature.

It so happened that we live in a socially depraved society completely excluding any moral principles, therefore, in the venereal departments of clinics you can often meet 15-year-old girls and young people.

It should be noted that the consequences of STIs in adolescents can be extremely deplorable, so after the infection, the child's life will not be the same. At guys, as it was already told above, on a ground of an infection the prostatitis can develop, girls can suffer infertility. But, alas, the picture of the modern world and striking statistics show that the increase in the number of sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents is growing.

Diagnostics

It is pleasant to note that medicine does not stand still, and in recent years, laboratory research has made a huge leap in its development. Therefore, at the moment it can be safely noted - now in modern clinics there is such an opportunity as an early examination on STI. What does it mean?

Based on the patient's complaints, a number of smears of the microflora of the vagina and examination of the glans penis are prescribed, and after that the latest technologies are used in studies on the DNA structure of the infected and PC reaction, and direct immunofluorescence diagnostics is performed.

Everyone who suspects such infections should understand that an early examination for STIs is necessary, that this can protect your body from undesirable consequences.

In especially severe degrees of diseases, which can be transmitted not only through sexual contact, an immunological blood test is prescribed . Blood for STIs is mandatory given for suspected syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV infection in the body. As a rule, several diagnostic methods in complex can give exactly the correct diagnosis.

Treatment

The next stage after diagnosis of STI is treatment, which is usually aimed at destroying the focus of the disease and completely removing the infection from the body. Thanks to the latest technologies in treatment, compared to the past decades, the rate of taking antibacterial drugs and antibiotics has decreased three-fold and currently stands at an average of a week.

After active therapy, they switch to preventive measures: they can be physiotherapeutic methods of treatment, administration of vitamins both intramuscularly and orally, immunostimulating procedures are performed.

Often the symptoms of the disease do not pass for some time after the end of the course of treatment, which is associated with severe inflammatory processes in the body and its reaction to causative agents of the disease.

Prevention of STIs

To prevent the onset of STI infection in the body, a number of preventive measures must be followed. Failed noses, terrible abscesses on the skin - these are not at all episodes from the horror film, while conducting the wrong way of life such passions can happen to everyone. One wrong step can cripple the life of an absolutely healthy person, regardless of his social status and position in society. Therefore, it is not enough to know the consequences of STI, what it is and how to treat it, it is also necessary to take all precautionary measures in order to avoid an ailment. So:

• Try not to change your sexual partners to disorder often, but nevertheless, if your lifestyle does not allow such luxury, then at least do not forget to use a condom;
• When using a public toilet, observe generally accepted standards of hygiene (hope you do not need to describe in detail which ones);
• If you decide to swim in the public pool - ask the administrators how the water is treated and whether it passes treatment for sanitary purposes;
• Do not delay visits to the doctor if you feel unpleasant changes in your body, for example, burning with urination, itching, abdominal pain, or noticed an unusual rash on the external genitalia;
• Once a year, with the prerequisites of the onset of STI, go through the diagnosis and take tests for the presence of venereal diseases in the body;
• At home in emergency cases, you can use solutions of antiseptics for douching the vagina and rinsing the penis, but do not get involved in these procedures - they destroy the microflora of the mucous of the genital organs.

Therefore, be more serious about your way of life and be healthy!