sexually transmitted diseases by, Angela Jacobs
Beep. Beep. Beep. The machine pumps steadily. The young girl opens her drowsy eyes and takes a look around at the hospital room. Her mom looks at her and tells her the operation was a success. The young girl was in an accident and needed blood or else she would die. The doctors told the girl she could go home in a couple weeks. The girl returned home and went back to her somewhat normal life. She had no idea what happened to her the day she received someone else’s blood. A couple of years later she was chronically sick. Her parents could not figure out why she would have a cold for months. They took her to the same hospital she was at four years ago. The doctor took all sorts of tests and came back with the gut wrenching news. The fifteen year old girl was diagnosed with HIV.
There are three types of sexually transmitted diseases: parasitic, bacterial, and viral. Parasitic infections are the least dangerous STDs for a human to contract, while viral infections are the most dangerous and can cause death. Each category has more diseases within them that people do not know exist or know enough about. The literal definition of sexually transmitted diseases, also known as sexually transmitted infections, is an infection or disease that is passed from person to person through vaginal, anal, or oral sex (Merck & Co.). Although most cases are passed through sex, some occasions occur where STDs such as HIV and AIDS are passed through blood, like the girl in the story. Thirteen and a half million new cases of STDs are reported each year. The United States has the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the world and has one hundred times more cases than Sweden. Ten billion dollar’s a year are spent towards helping STD victims and finding new cures (Lahey). Many victims of STDs do not know they are infected because there are little or no symptoms at all. Although sexually transmitted diseases are passed through sexual contact or blood transfusion, there are various other ways humans are getting infected. People that have multiple sex partners and unprotected sex are at serious risk of catching a sexually transmitted disease. More and more cases are turning up because of increased international travel and more drug resistant organisms. Some victims simply get an STD, because they do not communicate with their sex partners about having a sexually transmitted disease, or they do not discuss proper ways to prevent them. STDs can also be transferred from pregnant mothers to their babies.
Parasitic infections are the easiest to get rid of and are the least of a person’s worries. They are small parasites that live off of other organisms. The most common infection is Pediculosis Pubis, also known as pubic lice. These little creatures like moist surfaces, and jump from object to object. They spread to thighs, trunk, facial hair, and pubic hair (Holmes). People do not even have to be having sexual contact and they can get pubic lice. It is treated with medicine called lymphadenopathy and lice shampoo. Another somewhat well-known parasite, called Trichomoniasis, is an infection in the vagina or male genital tract. Symptoms in women are a yellow-green frothy vaginal discharge and red spots along the vaginal wall and cervix. Men have a transient, frothy, purulent discharge (Holmes). Men and women can both be treated by taking pills. Classic scabies fall under this category as well. It is a parasitic mite that lays eggs under skin and causes intense pruritus (itching of the skin). They can appear on wrists, elbows, the belt line, lower buttocks, breast, and penis. Scabies are treated with permethrin and lindane, which is an ointment you place on the infected area (Holmes). The last of the parasitic infections are somewhat similar. They are called amebiasis and giardiasis. These parasites live inside the intestines and cause cysts in stools, diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, and cramping (Holmes). These parasites are contracted through oral and anal contact. Both are treated with pills and rehydration of the body. All parasitic infections are treatable, but can come back.
Bacterial infections are not as serious as viral infections but can be if they are not properly taken care of. All bacterial infections are passed by vaginal, anal, oral sex, or from mother to baby during birth. Four hundred thirty-three people per one hundred thousand are infected each year throughout the United States. In the San Diego county alone, three hundred forty-four people per one hundred thousand are infected each year with bacterial infections (Merck & Co.). There are three main bacterial infections. The most common bacterial infection is Chlamydia Trachomatis (Chlamydia). Four million people a year contract Chlamydia. Chlamydia is known as the “silent disease” because most people don’t show any signs of having the disease (Lahey). Seventy-five percent of women and fifty percent of men who are infected with the disease show no symptoms. When both sexes do show symptoms they have burning during urination and discharge. Men, however can show swelling in the testes (Dept. of Health). Chlamydia can damage the reproductive tract and cause infertility in women. It is one hundred percent curable if the antibiotics (azithromycin and doxycycline) are taken properly. There are eight hundred thousand new cases of gonorrhea a year. It is caused by Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. It infects the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, and urethra. Like Chlamydia, gonorrhea has symptoms but most infected people do not show them. Men have burning during urination, white-yellow-green discharge, and swollen testes, while women have burning during urination, vaginal discharge, and vaginal bleeding (Dept. of Health). Gonorrhea is curable with the proper medication. Syphilis is the most serious bacterial infection. It is caused by a bacterium called Treponema Pallidum. Syphilis is not only spread by sexual contact but can be spread by touching external genitals, open sores, lips, and mouths. Every year one to sixteen infants per one hundred thousand live past birth from an infected mother. Syphilis has three stages: the primary stage, the secondary stage, and the late stage. It is only curable during the first two stages. The first stage lasts an average of twenty-one days and during this time the victim will get a single sore. During the second stage the sore turns into a skin rash that is a reddish-brown color and causes mucous membranes. The body starts to break down during the third stage. The disease damages the internal organs, such as the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones, and joints (Dept. of Health). Syphilis has been known to cause death. If a person is treated for any of these infections, they can contract that disease again, possibly over and over if the infection is not taken care of properly or if they come into contact with someone who has a bacterial infection.
The most dangerous and life threatening STDs are viral infections. One viral infection that causes liver disease is hepatitis B. It’s contracted by sex, needles, blood, and body fluids. Side-effects of hepatitis B is yellow skin, yellow in the white part of the eye, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, joint pain, and grey bowel movement (Dept. of Health). There is no known cure for hepatitis B but there are antiviral drugs that prevent people from getting it. Herpes is another common viral infection. There are ten different types, but only type’s one and two are sexually transmitted. There are barely any symptoms of herpes but if a victim shows them they would have blisters on or around the genitals or rectum, sores, and flu-like fevers (Lahey). Outbreaks of herpes do not disappear but they do decrease over the years and take two to four weeks to heal. One out of every five people has herpes, but they are more common in women (Dept. of Health). There is no cure for herpes but there are antiviral medications. One viral infection has one hundred different types known to man, however only thirty are sexually transmitted. This virus is Human Papillomavirus (HPV). It is unique because it is curable in women as long as it does not progress into cervical cancer. HPV infects the penis, vulva, anus, lining of vagina, cervix, and the rectum. There is “high risk” and “low risk” HPV. The “high risk” form leads to cancer in the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus, and penis, where as the “low risk” form causes genital warts. These warts are bumps shaped like cauliflowers and they are soft, moist, and pink (Lahey). The worst kind of viral STD is HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). HIV can progress into AIDS, but does not always (Lahey). It is transmitted by sexual contact, blood and mother to baby. It is only contagious during the incubation period. There is a type of HIV called free HIV, which is passed from cell to cell or by body fluids. HIV infects the white blood cells (CD4, T4 cells, T-helper cells) and passes through the cells. Once the virus is in the cells, it creates new ones with the virus already in it. The virus spreads throughout the body to the brain, lymph nodes, and genital tract (Bartlett). What it does is it breaks down the immune system. Eventually a human’s immune system cannot fight off small infections such as a cold. If a person is infected with HIV, they will die but not always by the virus. The victim may die from something as simple as a cold. There are twenty-four antiretroviral drugs but none of them can cure HIV. Sadly every Viral STD has no cure. They are not as common as the other STDs but can be contracted just as easily.
Pregnant women can get STDs as easily as any other person. Mothers pass it to their babies before, during or after birth. Syphilis is passed to the baby before it is born, Chlamydia, Hepatitis B, and genital warts are passed to the baby during birth, and HIV is passed during and after birth. The HIV is passed after birth through breast feeding. Mothers are seriously harmed by STDs. They can cause an early onset of labor, premature rupture of the membranes surrounding the baby in the uterus, and can cause infection after delivery. Stillbirth can be a major side-effect of pregnant women infected with STDs. The baby is also affected after birth. They can have low birth weight, conjunctivitis (eye infection), pneumonia, neonatal sepsis (infection in the baby’s blood stream), neuro-logic damage, blindness, deafness, acute hepatitis, meningitis, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis (Nat. Women’s Health). All of these symptoms can be avoided by prenatal care but it is not one hundred percent effective. Babies can be treated for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis. Below is a chart of statistics of pregnant women each year with STDs.
STD Infected Pregnant Women
Bacterial Vaginosis 800,000
Herpes 800,000
Chlamydia 200,000
Trichomoniasis 80,000
Gonorrhea 40,000
Hepatitis B 40,000
HIV 8,000
Syphilis 8,000 (Nat. Women’s Health)
STDs are becoming more and more common throughout the United States as well as the world. Each category of STDs: bacterial, parasitic, and viral are found throughout the world. Some are more common than others but they are all still out there. Most of them have cures but a few do not. Our society has made STDs more common. With all the TV programs, radio shows, and daily life people think it is ok to have sex with multiple partners and unprotected. If our society instilled the thought of protection and conservation, STDs could become less and less common. Cases would drop by the thousands each year. Humans are finding more and more cures every decade. The most recent is not a cure but is a shot that prevents HPV and cervical cancer- a drug known as Gardasil. If people take care of their lives and make healthy, smart choices, STDs could be contained and stopped from spreading.
References
Bartlett, John G., and Ann K. Finkbeiner. The Guide to Living With HIV Infection. 6th ed. The John Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Department of Health & Human Services. (May 2004). Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 5 May 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/std/default.htm
Holmes, K., P. Mardh, and P. Sparlingetal (eds). Sexually Transmitted diseases, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999, chapters 33-37.
Lahey, Benjamin B. Psychology an Introduction. 9th ed. ED. Emily Barrosse. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2007.
Merck & Co., Inc. (2005). Infectious Diseases: Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 1995-2007. 5 May 2007. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec14/ch194.html
The National Women’s Health Information Center. (2005). Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Overview. 11 May 2007. http://www.womenshealth.gov
There are three types of sexually transmitted diseases: parasitic, bacterial, and viral. Parasitic infections are the least dangerous STDs for a human to contract, while viral infections are the most dangerous and can cause death. Each category has more diseases within them that people do not know exist or know enough about. The literal definition of sexually transmitted diseases, also known as sexually transmitted infections, is an infection or disease that is passed from person to person through vaginal, anal, or oral sex (Merck & Co.). Although most cases are passed through sex, some occasions occur where STDs such as HIV and AIDS are passed through blood, like the girl in the story. Thirteen and a half million new cases of STDs are reported each year. The United States has the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the world and has one hundred times more cases than Sweden. Ten billion dollar’s a year are spent towards helping STD victims and finding new cures (Lahey). Many victims of STDs do not know they are infected because there are little or no symptoms at all. Although sexually transmitted diseases are passed through sexual contact or blood transfusion, there are various other ways humans are getting infected. People that have multiple sex partners and unprotected sex are at serious risk of catching a sexually transmitted disease. More and more cases are turning up because of increased international travel and more drug resistant organisms. Some victims simply get an STD, because they do not communicate with their sex partners about having a sexually transmitted disease, or they do not discuss proper ways to prevent them. STDs can also be transferred from pregnant mothers to their babies.
Parasitic infections are the easiest to get rid of and are the least of a person’s worries. They are small parasites that live off of other organisms. The most common infection is Pediculosis Pubis, also known as pubic lice. These little creatures like moist surfaces, and jump from object to object. They spread to thighs, trunk, facial hair, and pubic hair (Holmes). People do not even have to be having sexual contact and they can get pubic lice. It is treated with medicine called lymphadenopathy and lice shampoo. Another somewhat well-known parasite, called Trichomoniasis, is an infection in the vagina or male genital tract. Symptoms in women are a yellow-green frothy vaginal discharge and red spots along the vaginal wall and cervix. Men have a transient, frothy, purulent discharge (Holmes). Men and women can both be treated by taking pills. Classic scabies fall under this category as well. It is a parasitic mite that lays eggs under skin and causes intense pruritus (itching of the skin). They can appear on wrists, elbows, the belt line, lower buttocks, breast, and penis. Scabies are treated with permethrin and lindane, which is an ointment you place on the infected area (Holmes). The last of the parasitic infections are somewhat similar. They are called amebiasis and giardiasis. These parasites live inside the intestines and cause cysts in stools, diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, and cramping (Holmes). These parasites are contracted through oral and anal contact. Both are treated with pills and rehydration of the body. All parasitic infections are treatable, but can come back.
Bacterial infections are not as serious as viral infections but can be if they are not properly taken care of. All bacterial infections are passed by vaginal, anal, oral sex, or from mother to baby during birth. Four hundred thirty-three people per one hundred thousand are infected each year throughout the United States. In the San Diego county alone, three hundred forty-four people per one hundred thousand are infected each year with bacterial infections (Merck & Co.). There are three main bacterial infections. The most common bacterial infection is Chlamydia Trachomatis (Chlamydia). Four million people a year contract Chlamydia. Chlamydia is known as the “silent disease” because most people don’t show any signs of having the disease (Lahey). Seventy-five percent of women and fifty percent of men who are infected with the disease show no symptoms. When both sexes do show symptoms they have burning during urination and discharge. Men, however can show swelling in the testes (Dept. of Health). Chlamydia can damage the reproductive tract and cause infertility in women. It is one hundred percent curable if the antibiotics (azithromycin and doxycycline) are taken properly. There are eight hundred thousand new cases of gonorrhea a year. It is caused by Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. It infects the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, and urethra. Like Chlamydia, gonorrhea has symptoms but most infected people do not show them. Men have burning during urination, white-yellow-green discharge, and swollen testes, while women have burning during urination, vaginal discharge, and vaginal bleeding (Dept. of Health). Gonorrhea is curable with the proper medication. Syphilis is the most serious bacterial infection. It is caused by a bacterium called Treponema Pallidum. Syphilis is not only spread by sexual contact but can be spread by touching external genitals, open sores, lips, and mouths. Every year one to sixteen infants per one hundred thousand live past birth from an infected mother. Syphilis has three stages: the primary stage, the secondary stage, and the late stage. It is only curable during the first two stages. The first stage lasts an average of twenty-one days and during this time the victim will get a single sore. During the second stage the sore turns into a skin rash that is a reddish-brown color and causes mucous membranes. The body starts to break down during the third stage. The disease damages the internal organs, such as the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones, and joints (Dept. of Health). Syphilis has been known to cause death. If a person is treated for any of these infections, they can contract that disease again, possibly over and over if the infection is not taken care of properly or if they come into contact with someone who has a bacterial infection.
The most dangerous and life threatening STDs are viral infections. One viral infection that causes liver disease is hepatitis B. It’s contracted by sex, needles, blood, and body fluids. Side-effects of hepatitis B is yellow skin, yellow in the white part of the eye, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, joint pain, and grey bowel movement (Dept. of Health). There is no known cure for hepatitis B but there are antiviral drugs that prevent people from getting it. Herpes is another common viral infection. There are ten different types, but only type’s one and two are sexually transmitted. There are barely any symptoms of herpes but if a victim shows them they would have blisters on or around the genitals or rectum, sores, and flu-like fevers (Lahey). Outbreaks of herpes do not disappear but they do decrease over the years and take two to four weeks to heal. One out of every five people has herpes, but they are more common in women (Dept. of Health). There is no cure for herpes but there are antiviral medications. One viral infection has one hundred different types known to man, however only thirty are sexually transmitted. This virus is Human Papillomavirus (HPV). It is unique because it is curable in women as long as it does not progress into cervical cancer. HPV infects the penis, vulva, anus, lining of vagina, cervix, and the rectum. There is “high risk” and “low risk” HPV. The “high risk” form leads to cancer in the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus, and penis, where as the “low risk” form causes genital warts. These warts are bumps shaped like cauliflowers and they are soft, moist, and pink (Lahey). The worst kind of viral STD is HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). HIV can progress into AIDS, but does not always (Lahey). It is transmitted by sexual contact, blood and mother to baby. It is only contagious during the incubation period. There is a type of HIV called free HIV, which is passed from cell to cell or by body fluids. HIV infects the white blood cells (CD4, T4 cells, T-helper cells) and passes through the cells. Once the virus is in the cells, it creates new ones with the virus already in it. The virus spreads throughout the body to the brain, lymph nodes, and genital tract (Bartlett). What it does is it breaks down the immune system. Eventually a human’s immune system cannot fight off small infections such as a cold. If a person is infected with HIV, they will die but not always by the virus. The victim may die from something as simple as a cold. There are twenty-four antiretroviral drugs but none of them can cure HIV. Sadly every Viral STD has no cure. They are not as common as the other STDs but can be contracted just as easily.
Pregnant women can get STDs as easily as any other person. Mothers pass it to their babies before, during or after birth. Syphilis is passed to the baby before it is born, Chlamydia, Hepatitis B, and genital warts are passed to the baby during birth, and HIV is passed during and after birth. The HIV is passed after birth through breast feeding. Mothers are seriously harmed by STDs. They can cause an early onset of labor, premature rupture of the membranes surrounding the baby in the uterus, and can cause infection after delivery. Stillbirth can be a major side-effect of pregnant women infected with STDs. The baby is also affected after birth. They can have low birth weight, conjunctivitis (eye infection), pneumonia, neonatal sepsis (infection in the baby’s blood stream), neuro-logic damage, blindness, deafness, acute hepatitis, meningitis, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis (Nat. Women’s Health). All of these symptoms can be avoided by prenatal care but it is not one hundred percent effective. Babies can be treated for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis. Below is a chart of statistics of pregnant women each year with STDs.
STD Infected Pregnant Women
Bacterial Vaginosis 800,000
Herpes 800,000
Chlamydia 200,000
Trichomoniasis 80,000
Gonorrhea 40,000
Hepatitis B 40,000
HIV 8,000
Syphilis 8,000 (Nat. Women’s Health)
STDs are becoming more and more common throughout the United States as well as the world. Each category of STDs: bacterial, parasitic, and viral are found throughout the world. Some are more common than others but they are all still out there. Most of them have cures but a few do not. Our society has made STDs more common. With all the TV programs, radio shows, and daily life people think it is ok to have sex with multiple partners and unprotected. If our society instilled the thought of protection and conservation, STDs could become less and less common. Cases would drop by the thousands each year. Humans are finding more and more cures every decade. The most recent is not a cure but is a shot that prevents HPV and cervical cancer- a drug known as Gardasil. If people take care of their lives and make healthy, smart choices, STDs could be contained and stopped from spreading.
References
Bartlett, John G., and Ann K. Finkbeiner. The Guide to Living With HIV Infection. 6th ed. The John Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Department of Health & Human Services. (May 2004). Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 5 May 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/std/default.htm
Holmes, K., P. Mardh, and P. Sparlingetal (eds). Sexually Transmitted diseases, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999, chapters 33-37.
Lahey, Benjamin B. Psychology an Introduction. 9th ed. ED. Emily Barrosse. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2007.
Merck & Co., Inc. (2005). Infectious Diseases: Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 1995-2007. 5 May 2007. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec14/ch194.html
The National Women’s Health Information Center. (2005). Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Overview. 11 May 2007. http://www.womenshealth.gov
posted by angela jacobs at
12:29 PM
3 Comments:
Very informative. Some of the paragraphs may need to be shortened. Like separate each desease when you talk about it.
I really liked your introduction because it was surprising and I thought that was great. Maybe you could use examples of people you know who have STD because it feels like you are reading a lot of facts.
I'm Celina Gomez from Canada, i have been cured from genital herpes with herbalist sakura herbal medicine.
i have been infected with Genital herpes for 1 year now , i have done so many medical treatment from different hospital still
not cured.
On a very good day , i decide to make a research on my computer on how to get rid of my Genital herpes,i found a post of Sarah Wilson on how she was cured from herpes with HERBALIST Sakura herbal remedy.
The Herbalist email was there as well drsakuraspellalter@gmail.com +2348160802189. i contacted him for my Genital herpes infection.
he needed few of my information and also send me his medicine through FedEx courier service.
i received it after 3 working days of shipment,i drink the herbal medicine the same way Dr sakura instructed.
but now my Genital herpes is gone totally without any side effect or harm, may God Almighty continuing to bless him abundantly .
you can contact him on mail/ whats-app dr.sakuraspellalter@gmail.com +2348110114739 or follow him on Instagram @herbalist_sakura
you can as well contact me for more information celinagomez784@gmail.com
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