Introduction
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also known as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), are ailments that can be passed between partners during sexual activity, or even through non-sexual contact, like sharing razors or towels. Examples of common STIs include chlamydia, HIV/AIDS, genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B and syphilis.
STIs are common problem. There are so many different kinds of STIs, including genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, trichomoniasis, HIV/AIDS and HPV. These illnesses can be passed from person-to-person through unprotected sexual activity. It’s important to understand how you can prevent getting an STI because once you have one it is really hard to get rid of it.
The best way to prevent getting an STI is abstinence. Abstinence means not having any sex at all outside of marriage.
What are STIs?
STIs are type of infection that is passed from one person to another through intimate contact. Some examples of common STIs include chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, syphilis, HIV/AIDS, and human papillomavirus (HPV). The best way to avoid getting an STI is by using a condom during sex and limiting your number of sexual partners. If you think you might have been exposed to an infection or become infected with one, it’s important that you get tested as soon as possible.
How do people get STIs?
Most people get STIs by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has an infection. It doesn’t matter how old you are, how many partners you’ve had, or whether your partner is male or female. The only way to be sure that a person doesn’t have an infection is if they’ve had sex with only one person who also hasn’t been sexually active with anyone else. People can also get infections from using dirty needles when injecting drugs. Some infections can spread from mother-to-child in the womb or during childbirth; if this happens it’s important that healthcare professionals know about it so they can take steps to protect both mother and baby.
Symptoms
STDs or STIs can have a range of signs and symptoms, including no symptoms. That’s why they may go unnoticed until complications occur or a partner is diagnosed.
Signs and symptoms that might indicate an STI include:
- Sores or bumps on the genitals or in the oral or rectal area
- Painful or burning urination
- Discharge from the penis
- Unusual or odorous vaginal discharge
- Unusual vaginal bleeding
- Pain during sex
- Sore, swollen lymph nodes, particularly in the groin but sometimes more widespread
- Lower abdominal pain
- Fever
- Rash over the trunk, hands or feet
Signs and symptoms may appear a few days after exposure. However, it may take years before you have any noticeable problems, depending on the organism causing the STI.
Who is at risk for getting an STI?
STIs can be caused by unprotected sex, oral sex, or vaginal sex. Unprotected sex is when you do not use a condom during vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse. Oral sex is when you put your mouth on someone’s genitals or anus. Vaginal Sex is when a man inserts his penis into a woman’s vagina. Anal Sex is when someone puts their penis into another person’s anus.
How can I prevent getting an STI?
There are several ways to avoid or reduce your risk of STDs or STI.
- Abstain. The most effective way to avoid STIs is to not have (abstain from) sex.
- Stay with one uninfected partner. Another reliable way of avoiding STIs is to stay in a long-term relationship in which both people have sex only with each other and neither partner is infected.
- Wait and test. Avoid vaginal and anal intercourse with new partners until you have both been tested for STIs. Oral sex is less risky, but use a latex condom or dental dam to prevent skin-to-skin contact between the oral and genital mucous membranes.
- Get vaccinated. Getting vaccinated early, before sexual exposure, is also effective in preventing certain types of STIs. Vaccines are available to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis A and hepatitis B.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the HPV vaccine for girls and boys ages 11 and 12, although it can be given as early as age 9. If not fully vaccinated at ages 11 and 12, the CDC recommends getting the vaccine through age 26.The hepatitis B vaccine is usually given to newborns, and the hepatitis A vaccine is recommended for 1-year-olds. Both vaccines are recommended for people who aren’t already immune to these diseases and for those who are at increased risk of infection, such as men who have sex with men and IV drug users.
- Use condoms and dental dams consistently and correctly. Use a new latex condom or dental dam for each sex act, whether oral, vaginal or anal. Never use an oil-based lubricant, such as petroleum jelly, with a latex condom or dental dam.Condoms made from natural membranes are not recommended because they’re not effective at preventing STIs. Also, keep in mind that while latex condoms reduce your risk of exposure to most STIs, they provide less protection for STIs involving exposed genital sores, such as HPV or herpes.Also, nonbarrier forms of contraception, such as birth control pills or intrauterine devices (IUDs), don’t protect against STIs.
- Don’t drink alcohol excessively or use drugs. If you’re under the influence, you’re more likely to take sexual risks.
- Communicate. Before any serious sexual contact, communicate with your partner about practicing safer sex. Be sure you specifically agree on what activities will and won’t be OK.
- Consider male circumcision. For men, there’s evidence that circumcision can help reduce the risk of acquiring HIV from a woman with HIV by as much as 60%. Male circumcision may also help prevent transmission of genital HPV and genital herpes.
- Consider using preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of two combination drugs to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people who are at very high risk. They’re emtricitabine plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Truvada) and emtricitabine plus tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (Descovy).Your doctor will prescribe these drugs for HIV prevention only if you don’t already have HIV. You will need an HIV test before you start taking PrEP and then every three months as long as you’re taking it.Your doctor will also test your kidney function before prescribing Truvada and continue to test it every six months. If you have hepatitis B, you should be evaluated by an infectious disease or liver specialist before beginning therapy.
These drugs must be taken every day, exactly as prescribed. If you use Truvada daily, you can lower your risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% and from injection drug use by more than 74% percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research suggests that Descovy is similarly effective in reducing the risk of getting HIV from sex. However, Descovy hasn’t been studied in people who have receptive vaginal sex. Using additional prevention, such as condoms, can lower your risk even more and prevent other STIs.
Controlling the spread
Behaviour change is complex
Despite considerable efforts to identify simple interventions that can reduce risky sexual behaviour, behaviour change remains a complex challenge.
Information, education and counselling can improve people’s ability to recognize the symptoms of STIs and increase the likelihood that they will seek care and encourage a sexual partner to do so. Unfortunately, lack of public awareness, lack of training among health workers, and long-standing, widespread stigma around STIs remain barriers to greater and more effective use of these interventions.
Health services for screening and treatment of STIs remain weak
People seeking screening and treatment for STIs face numerous problems. These include limited resources, stigmatization, poor quality of services and often out-of-pocket expenses.
Some populations with the highest rates of STIs – such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, prison inmates, mobile populations and adolescents in high burden countries for HIV – often do not have access to adequate and friendly health services.
In many settings, STI services are often neglected and underfunded. These problems lead to difficulties in providing testing for asymptomatic infections, insufficient number of trained personnel, limited laboratory capacity and inadequate supplies of appropriate medicines.
Treatment of STIs
Effective treatment is currently available for several STIs.
- Three bacterial (chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis) and one parasitic STIs (trichomoniasis) are generally curable with existing single-dose regimens of antibiotics.
- For herpes and HIV, the most effective medications available are antivirals that can modulate the course of the disease, though they cannot cure the disease.
- For hepatitis B, antivirals can help fighting the virus and slowing damage to the liver.
AMR of STIs – in particular gonorrhoea – has increased rapidly in recent years and has reduced treatment options. The Gonococcal AMR Surveillance Programme (GASP) has shown high rates of resistance to many antibiotics including quinolone, azithromycin and extended-spectrum cephalosporins, a last-line treatment (4).
Conclusion
STIs can be transmitted during vaginal, anal or oral sex. The most common STIs are gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, HPV (human papillomavirus) and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Most STIs are curable with treatment. To avoid getting an infection or passing one on to a sexual partner it is important to use a condom each time you have sex.
