Topic 10 : Sexually transmitted diseases

General symptom of a patient who infected with a sexually transmitted disease

Painful urination
Are rash, sore or pimples at the genitals
Pus or mucus formats the vagina or urethra.
Itching or pain at the anus
Genital pain or discomfort
Stomach ache or pelvis-ache
Pain during sex
Usually have leucorrhea

Common sexually transmitted diseases

Herpes

Herpes is a skin infection, oral infection and/or genital infection which is caused by the Herpes simplex virus.

Symptoms of Herpes

The primary symptoms are sharp burning pain, itching, and swelling, followed by inflamed colorless papules which look like water drops that have reddish rims. After two or three days, these papules will burst and then they will form scales. Papules may group together into clusters and eventually become a large sore, which is very ฃpainful. If a patient keeps good hygiene and avoids further infections or postulations, the symptoms may disappear in two or three weeks.

After the first infection, the rash will recur occasionally because the body cannot eliminate all the viruses. The symptoms generally decrease during each relapse the rash area will decrease and the fever becomes more moderate, The rash usually occurs at or near the same area as before.

Treatment

Herpes can disappear without medical treatment. Using antiviral drugs cannot stop relapses from occurring. It can only make them less severe, decrease the frequency and decrease the interval. They can also help the sores to heal faster. But everyone who is infected, especially those who have immunodeficiency, if his/her symptoms do not improve, needs to get necessary antiviral drugs with antibiotics to prevent further complications.

New outbreaks of the herpes papules are not a new infection

A person who is infected will have a recurrence of the papules in 1 to 3 days, he/she will suffer itching and burning pain at the same area.

Treatment and control of herpes

Inadequate sleep will cause weakness and low immunity which can allow infection easier. If a person is infected already, he/she will have worse symptoms and the period of outbreaks will be longer or relapses more common.
Do not cover or bind the sores because dryness and air will help them to heal faster. You should try to always absorb any moisture and keep the sores dry.
Clean herpes sores and papules with only soap and pure water.
Do not peel the scabs.
If you have pain, you can use any normal painkiller
Because this virus remains in the body even if you do not currently have symptoms, it is easy to infect other people. The best prevention from catching herpes is using a condom every time that you have sex.

Gonorrhea and non-gonococcal urethritis

You can prevent infection from both of these diseases by using a condom every time you have sex. More than half of women who have gonorrhea will not show any symptoms or only very minor symptoms, so they do not seek treatment. In cases of non-gonococcal urethritis, women never have any symptom; there is only abnormal leucorrhea and sometime a bit of pain when urinating.

Men infected with gonorrhea will show symptoms in 3 - 5 days infection. Painful urination and a milky white discharge from the penis is common. Non-gonococcal urethritis will begin to show symptoms around 1 - 3 weeks after infection. There will be stinging at the urethra, difficulty urinating, with itching and irritation at the urethra and possibly pain at the anus.

Gonorrhea in men

Symptoms usually occur 2-5 days after infection, There will be stinging at the urethra, a burning pain while urinating, and an emission of yellow pus from the urethra.

Women's gonorrhea

A woman who was infected by this disease will show symptoms later than a man. Symptoms will occur after being infected approximately 1 to 3 weeks; they can be noticed from a lot of leucorrhea and having an abnormal odor, burning pain while urinating because of inflammation of the urethra and cervix.

Common sexually transmitted diseases

Chancre

This transmitted disease is caused by bacteria. It is very contagious but relatively easy to treat. This disease will cause wounds at the genitals and lymph nodes at the groin will be bigger. Sometimes there may be pus, which is called "Bubo".

Symptoms

A person who is infected by this disease will show symptoms after being infected 3-10 days.
The primary symptoms are pimples and pain. After that, there will be small sores. The rims will swell and be painful. The small sores will combine to become a larger sore.
The sore will be soft.
There will be pain for men, but for woman, there may not be pain which means she may not even know she is infected and can infect others easily.
Lymph nodes at the groin will become enlarged and feel painful when pressed. In some people, it might spilt open and emit pus.

HIV and AIDS

HIV is virus which stands for "Human Immunodeficiency Virus", That means a virus which causes a human's immunity to decrease or become deficient. HIV is the precursor to AIDS which means “Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome”. This is a group of symptoms which occur from decreasing or a deficiency in a human's immune system which causes a susceptibility to infection by other diseases.

An "Infected person" is a person who is infected with HIV but does not show symptoms.

"AIDs patient" means a person in whom the HIV virus has developed in AIDS and who is currently being treated.

An HIV infected person is different from an AIDS patient. An infected person is a person who has the HIV virus in his/her body, there is no any sign of symptoms and he/she can live normally. It is not necessary to treat an infected person differently from other people. In Thailand, more than 80% of persons who are infected with HIV acquired this disease from unprotected sex. Some are infected by sharing syringes for drugs, and some children are infected when still in the womb if the mother is infected.

There is no evidence that anyone has ever become infected by living, eating, drinking, or speaking with an infected person. The extent of HIV infection is determined by these three factors:

1. Source of the disease: HIV is transmitted to humans via white blood cells which are present in various secretions such as blood, sperm, secretion in the vagina, breast milk etc.

2. Quality and Quantity of disease: Many conditions such as acid in the saliva, acid in the stomach, hot or dry weather, medicinal liquids, etc. can cause the HIV virus to be unable to live in the human body. There must also be a large enough quantity of virus transferred from host to allow infection.

3. Route of transmission: HIV is passed from the host through the blood. There must be blood to blood contact. There are many ways this can occur including unprotected sex, sharing drug syringes, and from a mother to her baby.

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