Signs of sexually-transmitted diseases

Sometimes, the way alternative medicine hawkers trivialise issues relating to sexually-transmitted infections/diseases is astounding. For one, they dwell more on obscene description of sexuality; while they also call STIs the diseases of the socially active persons.
Well, whether this latter aspect is true or not, the undeniable fact is that STDs are dangerous infections that can wreak systematic havoc on the body, internally and externally; and, in extreme cases, they can result in agonising death.
Epidemiologists say there are more than 20 STDs, including crabs, scabies, genital warts, syphilis, AIDS, Chlamydia, Herpes, among others.
Researchers say every year, millions of STDs are passed from person to person, primarily through sexual contact, though some infections are also transmitted non-sexually.
They note that because the infections are sexually-transmitted, people don’t like to talk about them and therefore leave them untreated.
“Sometimes, the infections will go away; but usually, an untreated STD will return and the infected person will suffer grave consequences as a result,” epidemiologist, Mr. Segilola Araoye, warns.
Doctors also warn that STDs are dangerous for a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.
Family physician, Dr. Damilare Okikiolu, notes that a pregnant woman with an STD can infect her baby before, during, or after delivery.
“She may also go into early labour or suffer early rupture of the membranes surrounding the baby in the uterus.”
Worse still, doctors say, the complications of STIs in pregnant women can result in cervical cancer and other cancers for the mother. As for the unborn baby, he may suffer chronic hepatitis, neonatal sepsis (infection in the blood), damage to the brain, blindness, deafness, acute hepatitis, meningitis, and chronic liver disease.
Okikiolu laments that some of the effects of birth-related sexually-transmitted diseases may not be detected for months or sometimes, even years.
Physicians warn that there are no vaccines for the prevention of some of these STDs and that even after a patient must have been treated for any of them, he or she could still get a new infection if they don’t adhere to strict sexual health practices.
Okikiolu advises sexually active people who have more than one partner or those who engage in risky sexual behaviours to regularly screen for STIs.
While we may not be able to mention all the STDs in the books, a brief examination of some of them would do. So, here we go…
Chlamydia
Okikiolu says typically, most people who have Chlamydia don’t know they do because the bacterial infection often has no symptoms, though it’s one of the most reported STDs.
He warns, “Chlamydia is easy to cure, but if left untreated, it can affect a woman’s ability to conceive; just as it can affect the genitals, rectum, eyes and eyelids.
“Indeed, about 10-15 per cent of women with Chlamydia will develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which affects the upper genital tract. This may cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues, and can lead to infertility. It may also lead to ectopic pregnancy. In men, Chlamydia infection can spread to the testes, and can result in sterility,” the doctor warns.
The signs and symptoms of Chlamydia, Okikiolu says, usually include painful urination, lower abdominal pain, vaginal discharge in women, discharge from the penis in men, pain during sexual intercourse in women, and testicular pain in men.”
He warns that any sexually frivolous person can get Chlamydia, “but female teens are more likely to be infected because of immature cervix.”
Trichomoniasis

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Source: Niajagaga

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