Sexually transmitted disease (patient information)
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Sexually transmitted disease |
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Where to find medical care for Sexually transmitted disease? |
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Sexually transmitted disease On the Web |
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Directions to Hospitals Treating Sexually transmitted disease |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Sexually transmitted disease |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
What are the symptoms of Sexually transmitted disease?
What causes Sexually transmitted disease?
Who is at highest risk?
When to seek urgent medical care?
Diagnosis
STI tests may test for a single infection, or consist of a number of individual tests for any of a wide range of STIs, including tests for syphilis, trichomonas, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, hepatitis and HIV tests. No procedure tests for all infectious agents. STI tests may be used for a number of reasons:
- as a diagnostic test to determine the cause of symptoms or illness
- as a screening test to detect asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections
- as a check that prospective sexual partners are free of disease before they engage in sex without safer sex precautions (for example, in fluid bonding, or for procreation).
- as a check prior to or during pregnancy, to prevent harm to the baby
- as a check after birth, to check that the baby has not caught an STI from the mother
- to prevent the use of infected donated blood or organs
- as part of the process of contact tracing from a known infected individual
- as part of mass epidemiological surveillance
Not all STIs are symptomatic, and symptoms may not appear immediately after infection. In some instances a disease can be carried with no symptoms, which leaves a greater risk of passing the disease on to others. There is often a window period after initial infection during which an STI test will be negative. During this period the infection may be transmissible. The duration of this period varies depending on the infection and the test.
Treatment options
There are many different kinds of STDs, and the types of treatment are as varied as their symptoms. No STD is harmless. Even the curable ones can cause serious consequences if left untreated. HIV is of particular concern as biological evidence demonstrates the increased likelihood of acquiring and transmitting HIV when STDs are present.High risk exposure such as that which occurs in rape cases may be treated prophylacticly using antibiotic combinations such as azithromycin, cefixime, and metronidazole
Where to find medical care for Sexually transmitted disease?
Directions to Hospitals Treating Sexually transmitted disease