An overview of Sexually Transmitted Infections
(from the US Dept. of Health- Women's Health Information Center)
What is a sexually transmitted Infection (STI)?
How many people have STIs?
How do you get an STI?
What are the symptoms of STIs?
How do you get tested for STIs?
Can STIs cause health problems?
How are STIs treated?
How do STIs affect pregnant women and their babies?
What can pregnant women do to prevent problems from STIs?
Do STIs affect breastfeeding?
What is a sexually transmitted Infection (STI)?
It is an infection or disease passed from person to person through sexual
contact.
How many people have STIs?
The United States has the highest rates of STDs in the industrialized world.
In the United States alone, an estimated 15.3 million new cases of STDs are
reported each year. Women suffer more frequent and more serious complications
from STDs than men.
How do you get an STI?
You can get and pass STIs through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Trichomoniasis
can also picked up from contact with damp or moist objects such as towels, wet
clothing, or a toilet seat, if the genital area gets in contact with these damp
objects. Some STDs cause no symptoms. But STDs can still be passed from person
to person even if there are no symptoms.
What are the symptoms of STIs?
Here are some STIs and their symptoms.
| STI |
Symptoms |
| BV |
Most women have no symptoms. Women with symptoms may have:
- vaginal itching
- pain when urinating
- discharge with a fishy odor
|
| Chlamydia |
Most women have no symptoms. Women with symptoms may have:
- abnormal vaginal discharge
- burning when urinating
- bleeding between menstrual periods
Infections that are not treated, even if there are no symptoms, can lead
to:
- lower abdominal pain
- low back pain
- nausea
- fever
- pain during sex
- bleeding between periods
|
| Genital Herpes |
Some people may have no symptoms. During an “outbreak,” the symptoms are
clear:
- small red bumps, blisters, or open sores on the penis, vagina, or on
areas close by
- vaginal discharge
- fever
- headache
- muscle aches
- pain when urinating
- itching, burning, or swollen glands in genital area
- pain in legs, buttocks, or genital area
Symptoms may go away and then come back. Sores heal after two to four
weeks. |
| Gonorrhea |
Symptoms are often mild, but most women have no symptoms. Even when
women have symptoms, they can sometimes be mistaken for a bladder or another
vaginal infection. Symptoms are:
- pain or burning when urinating
- yellowish and sometimes bloody vaginal discharge
- bleeding between menstrual periods
|
| Hepatitis B |
Some women have no symptoms. Women with symptoms may have:
- mild fever
- headache and muscle aches
- tiredness
- loss of appetite
- nausea or vomiting
- diarrhea
- dark-colored urine and pale bowel movements
- stomach pain
- skin and whites of eyes turning yellow
|
| HIV/AIDS |
Some women may have no symptoms for 10 years or more. Women with
symptoms may have:
- extreme fatigue
- rapid weight loss
- frequent low-grade fevers and night sweats
- frequent yeast infections (in the mouth)
- vaginal yeast infections and other STIs
- pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- menstrual cycle changes
- red, brown, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the
mouth, nose, or eyelids
|
| Human Papillomavirus (HPV) |
Some women have no symptoms. Women with symptoms may have:
- visible warts in the genital area, including the thighs. Warts can be
raised or flat, alone or in groups, small or large, and sometimes they are
cauliflower-shaped.
- lesions on the cervix and in the vagina
|
| Pubic Lice |
|
| Syphilis |
Symptoms in the first, or primary stage:
- a single, painless sore appears, usually in the genital areas but may
appear in the mouth
- if infection is not treated, it moves to the next stage
Symptoms in the next, or secondary, stage are:
- skin rash on the hands and feet that usually does not itch and clears
on its own
- fever
- swollen lymph glands
- sore throat
- patchy hair loss
- headaches
- weight loss
- muscle aches
- tiredness
In the latent, or hidden, stage, the symptoms listed above disappear, but
the symptoms from the second stage can come back. In the late stage,
infection remains in the body and can damage the brain, nerves, eyes, heart,
blood vessels, liver, bones, and joints. |
| Trichomoniasis |
Symptoms usually appear 5 to 28 days after exposure and can include:
- yellow, green, or gray vaginal discharge (often foamy) with a strong
odor
- discomfort during sex and when urinating
- irritation and itching of the genital area
- lower abdominal pain in rare cases
|
How do you get tested for STIs?
Talk with your doctor or nurse about getting tested for STIs. She or he can
tell you how to test for each STI.
Can STIs cause health problems?
Yes. While each STI causes different health problems, overall, they can cause
cervical cancer and other cancers, liver disease, pelvic inflammatory disease,
infertility, pregnancy problems, and other complications. Some STIs increase
your risk of getting HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS can cause a number of health problems
and raise the risk of getting life-threatening diseases and certain forms of
cancer.
How are STIs treated?
The treatment depends on the type of STI. For some STIs, treatment may
involve taking medicine or getting a shot. For other STIs that can’t be cured,
like herpes, there is treatment to relieve the symptoms.
How do STIs affect pregnant women and their babies?
STIs can have many of the same consequences for pregnant women as women who
are not pregnant. An STI may also cause early labor, cause the water to break
early, and cause infection in the uterus after the birth.
Some STIs can be passed from a pregnant woman to the baby before and during
the baby’s birth. Some STIs, like syphilis, cross the placenta and infect the
baby while it is in the uterus. Other STIs, like gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis
B, and genital herpes, can be passed from the mother to the baby during delivery
as the baby passes through the birth canal. HIV can cross the placenta during
pregnancy, and infect the baby during the birth process.
The harmful effects to babies may include low birth weight (less than five
pounds), eye infection, pneumonia, infection in the baby’s blood, brain damage,
lack of coordination in body movements, blindness, deafness, acute
hepatitis,
meningitis, chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, or
stillbirth.
Some of these problems can be prevented if the mother receives routine prenatal
care, which includes screening tests for STIs starting early in pregnancy and
repeated close to delivery, if necessary. Other problems can be treated if the
infection is found at birth.
What can pregnant women do to prevent problems from STIs?
Pregnant women should be test for these STIs on their first prenatal visit:
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhea
- Hepatitis B and C
- HIV
- Syphilis
In addition, some experts recommend that women who have had a premature
delivery in the past be screened and treated for bacterial vaginosis at the
first prenatal visit. Even if a woman has been tested in the past, she should be
tested again when she becomes pregnant.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis (BV)
can be treated and cured with antibiotics during pregnancy. There is no cure for
viral STIs, such as genital herpes and HIV, but antiviral medication for herpes
and HIV may reduce symptoms in the pregnant woman. For women who have active
genital herpes lesions at the time of delivery, a cesarean delivery (C-section)
may be performed to protect the newborn against infection. C-section is also an
option for some HIV-infected women. Women who test negative for hepatitis B may
receive the hepatitis B vaccine during pregnancy.
Do STIs affect breastfeeding?
Talk with your doctor, nurse, or a lactation consultant about the risk of
passing the STI to your baby while breastfeeding. If you have either chlamydia
or gonorrhea, you can keep breastfeeding. If you have syphilis or herpes, you
can keep breastfeeding as long as the sores are covered. Syphilis and herpes are
spread through contact with sores and can be dangerous to your newborn. If you
have sores on your nipple or areola (darker skin around the nipple), you should
stop breastfeeding on that breast. Pump or hand express your milk from that
breast until the sore clears. Pumping will help keep up your milk supply and
prevent your breast from getting engorged or overly full. You can store your
milk to give to your baby in a bottle for another feeding. But if parts of your
breast pump that contact the milk also touch the sore(s) while pumping, you
should throw the milk away.
If you are being treated for an STI, ask your doctor about the possible
effects of the drug on your breastfeeding baby. Most treatments for STIs are
safe to use while breastfeeding.
|
If you have HIV, do not breastfeed.
You can pass the virus to your baby. |
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