Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are all around us and they are very difficult to treat! Most people, especially at this day and age, are unaware of how scary these diseases can be. The chances of getting an STD are very likely, especially if you are having unprotected sex. Many of y’all are probably thinking “Well I am completely fine. I am always safe.” But, what I find the scariest is that these diseases can be asymptomatic. This means that people can have the disease and not show any signs or symptoms! Yikes! This person could appear completely clean and normal but turn out to have a serious sexually transmitted disease. If they don’t know that they have it, they could leave the infection untreated which can lead to very serious health issues! That is why I am here to inform you all about how these diseases are transmitted and prevented. Since most sexually transmitted diseases cannot be cured, lets prevent them as much as we can!
Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis. This is considered one of those diseases that can be asymptomatic. It is usually spread through vaginal, oral, or anal sex. The rates are the highest for teenagers and young adults. Chlamydia can be spread vertically meaning that a pregnant woman can spread this disease to their child during birth. Common risk factors include having multiple sex partners and not using protection. To prevent this disease, it may seem fairly obvious- limit your sex partners and use condoms! However, this is serious. Chlamydia trachomatous can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, prostate infections, infertility, arthritis, and much more! The antibiotics to treat this disease include doxycycline and azithromycin, however these antibiotics can strongly damage your gut microbiome. Why damage your normal microbiota when you can use the precautions listed above? I encourage every one of you all to use these precautions so we can decrease transmission and the sequelae associated with this disease.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common sexually transmitted disease. This disease causes genital warts to appear on external and internal genitalia, the anus, or the oral cavity; However, this disease can be asymptomatic. Again, your partner could be infected without you even knowing. You do not have to have warts to be shedding the virus. HPV is spread by sexual intercourse. There are many different strains of this virus and four of them cause cancer because they have oncogenes. Obviously, this is a very serious disease and luckily there is a disease to prevent it. The Gardasil vaccine is what is given in the United States to protect against most strains of HPV. Since the only reservoir is humans, we could wipe this disease off the face of the earth! We know that HPV causes cervical cancer, so if everyone gets vaccinated, there would be no more cervical cancer! So like can we all work together and get rid of these diseases?? Thanks!
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