Genital warts

Genital warts, sometimes called venereal warts, are growths or bumps contracted through sexual contact. They're caused by certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Symptoms

In females, genital warts appear in and around the vagina or anus or on the cervix. In males, they appear on the penis, scrotum, groin, or thigh. Genital warts can be raised or flat, small or large. Sometimes they're clustered together in a cauliflower-like shape. Most of the time, they're flesh-colored and painless. Sometimes, the warts are so small and flat that they may not be noticed right away.
It may take several months or years after infection for symptoms to appear — if there are symptoms at all.
In females, the virus can lead to changes in the cervix that may lead to cancer, so it's important that it is diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Males infected with HPV can also be at risk for cancer of the penis and the anus.

Contagiousness

Genital warts are transmitted through sexual contact (anal, oral, and vaginal) with an infected person, and warts can appear within several weeks or months afterwards.
The virus is passed through skin-to-skin contact, but not everyone who's been exposed to the virus will develop genital warts.

Prevention

A vaccine for females 9 to 26 years old is approved to prevent HPV infection, which causes most cervical cancers and genital warts. The vaccine, called Gardasil, is given as three injections over a 6-month period. It doesn't protect females who've already been infected with HPV, and doesn't protect against all types of HPV, so be sure your daughter gets routine checkups and gynecologic exams. If you have questions about the vaccine, talk with your doctor.
Because genital warts are spread through sexual contact, the best way to prevent them is to abstain from having sex. Sexual contact with more than one partner or with someone who has more than one partner increases the risk of contracting any STD.
When properly and consistently used, condoms decrease the risk of STDs. Latex condoms provide greater protection than natural-membrane condoms. The female condom, made of polyurethane, is also considered effective against STDs.
Using douche can actually increase a female's risk of contracting STDs because it can change the natural flora of the vagina and may flush bacteria higher into the genital tract.
A teen who is being treated for genital warts also should be tested for other STDs, and should have time alone with the doctor to openly discuss issues like sexual activity. Not all teens will be comfortable talking with parents about these issues. But it's important to encourage them to talk to a trusted adult who can provide the facts.

Treatment

Though there's no cure for an HPV infection, the genital warts can be treated and removed with medication or other medical procedures, such as freezing or laser treatments.
Because the HPV remains dormant in the body, genital warts may reappear at any time after treatment. Those who have had one outbreak of genital warts still carry the virus and can infect others. Someone who has had HPV can also get a new HPV infection from another partner.

Getting Help

If your teen is thinking of becoming sexually active or already has started having sex, it's important to talk with him or her about it. Make sure your teen knows how STDs can be spread (during anal, oral, or vaginal sex) and that these infections often don't have symptoms, so a partner might have an STD without knowing it.
It can be difficult to talk about STDs, but just as with any other medical issue, teens need this information to stay safe and healthy. Provide the facts, and let your child know where you stand.
It's also important that all teens have regular full physical exams — which can include screening for STDs. Your teen may want to see a gynecologist or a specialist in adolescent medicine to talk about sexual health issues. Community health organizations and sexual counseling centers in your local area also may be able to offer some guidance.

Chlamydia

What is Chlamydia ?

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the penis of an infected man.

How Common Is Chlamydia ?

Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the United States. In 2006, 1,030,911 chlamydial infections were reported to CDC from 50 states and the District of Columbia. Under-reporting is substantial because most people with chlamydia are not aware of their infections and do not seek testing. Also, testing is not often done if patients are treated for their symptoms. An estimated 2,291,000 non-institutionalized U.S. civilians ages 14-39 are infected with Chlamydia based on the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Women are frequently re-infected if their sex partners are not treated.

What Are The Symptoms Of Chlamydia ?

Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because about three quarters of infected women and about half of infected men have no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks after exposure.
In women, the bacteria initially infect the cervix and the urethra (urine canal). Women who have symptoms might have an abnormal vaginal discharge or a burning sensation when urinating. When the infection spreads from the cervix to the fallopian tubes (tubes that carry fertilized eggs from the ovaries to the uterus), some women still have no signs or symptoms; others have lower abdominal pain, low back pain, nausea, fever, pain during intercourse, or bleeding between menstrual periods. Chlamydial infection of the cervix can spread to the rectum.
Men with signs or symptoms might have a discharge from their penis or a burning sensation when urinating. Men might also have burning and itching around the opening of the penis. Pain and swelling in the testicles are uncommon.
Men or women who have receptive anal intercourse may acquire chlamydial infection in the rectum, which can cause rectal pain, discharge, or bleeding. Chlamydia can also be found in the throats of women and men having oral sex with an infected partner.

How Do people Get Chamydia ?

Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Chlamydia can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby during vaginal childbirth.
Any sexually active person can be infected with chlamydia. The greater the number of sex partners, the greater the risk of infection. Because the cervix (opening to the uterus) of teenage girls and young women is not fully matured and is probably more susceptible to infection, they are at particularly high risk for infection if sexually active. Since chlamydia can be transmitted by oral or anal sex, men who have sex with men are also at risk for chlamydial infection.

If

If untreated, chlamydial infections can progress to serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences. Like the disease itself, the damage that chlamydia causes is often "silent."
In women, untreated infection can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This happens in up to 40 percent of women with untreated chlamydia. PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Women infected with chlamydia are up to five times more likely to become infected with HIV, if exposed.
To help prevent the serious consequences of chlamydia, screening at least annually for chlamydia is recommended for all sexually active women age 25 years and younger. An annual screening test also is recommended for older women with risk factors for chlamydia (a new sex partner or multiple sex partners). All pregnant women should have a screening test for chlamydia.
Complications among men are rare. Infection sometimes spreads to the epididymis (the tube that carries sperm from the testis), causing pain, fever, and, rarely, sterility.
Rarely, genital chlamydial infection can cause arthritis that can be accompanied by skin lesions and inflammation of the eye and urethra (Reiter's syndrome).

Chlamydia and Babies

In pregnant women, there is some evidence that untreated chlamydial infections can lead to premature delivery. Babies who are born to infected mothers can get chlamydial infections in their eyes and respiratory tracts. Chlamydia is a leading cause of early infant pneumonia and conjunctivitis (pink eye) in newborns.

How It Can Be Diagnosed?


There are laboratory tests to diagnose chlamydia. Some can be performed on urine, other tests require that a specimen be collected from a site such as the penis or cervix.

The Treatment ?


Chlamydia can be easily treated and cured with antibiotics. A single dose of azithromycin or a week of doxycycline (twice daily) are the most commonly used treatments. HIV-positive persons with chlamydia should receive the same treatment as those who are HIV negative.

All sex partners should be evaluated, tested, and treated. Persons with chlamydia should abstain from sexual intercourse until they and their sex partners have completed treatment, otherwise re-infection is possible.

Women whose sex partners have not been appropriately treated are at high risk for re-infection. Having multiple infections increases a woman's risk of serious reproductive health complications, including infertility. Retesting should be encouraged for women three to four months after treatment. This is especially true if a woman does not know if her sex partner received treatment.

How To Prevent ?


The surest way to avoid transmission of STDs is to abstain from sexual contact, or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and is known to be uninfected.
Latex male condoms, when used consistently and correctly, can reduce the risk of transmission of chlamydia.

CDC recommends yearly chlamydia testing of all sexually active women age 25 or younger, older women with risk factors for chlamydial infections (those who have a new sex partner or multiple sex partners), and all pregnant women. An appropriate sexual risk assessment by a health care provider should always be conducted and may indicate more frequent screening for some women.

Any genital symptoms such as an unusual sore, discharge with odor, burning during urination, or bleeding between menstrual cycles could mean an STD infection. If a woman has any of these symptoms, she should stop having sex and consult a health care provider immediately. Treating STDs early can prevent PID. Women who are told they have an STD and are treated for it should notify all of their recent sex partners (sex partners within the preceding 60 days) so they can see a health care provider and be evaluated for STDs. Sexual activity should not resume until all sex partners have been examined and, if necessary, treated.

Gonorrhea

The Causes

Gonorrhea is caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria. The infection is transmitted from one person to another through vaginal, oral, or anal sexual relations.

* Men have a 20% chance of getting the infection by having sexual relations with a woman infected with gonorrhea.

* Women have a 50% chance of getting the infection by having sexual relations with a man infected with gonorrhea.

* An infected mother may transmit gonorrhea to her newborn during vaginal childbirth.

The symptoms

Symptoms may appear within 2-10 days after exposure to an infected person-even longer for women (up to 3 weeks).

Men

* Pain or burning during urination in most men

* Thick, yellow penile discharge 50% of the time

* Inflammation or infection of a duct in the testicles

* Infection or inflammation of the prostate

Women

* No symptoms 30-40% of the time

* Gonorrhea may cause pelvic inflammatory disease (a serious medical condition that can lead to infertility)

* Infection and irritation of the cervix

* Need to urinate often

* Itching and burning of the vagina, usually with a thick yellow/green discharge

* Infection and irritation of the vagina (this is how the infection usually appears in children who may be victims of incest)

* Bleeding between menstrual periods

Newborns

* Irritation of the mucous membranes in the eyes (if not treated, can cause blindness)

Other

* Gonococcal throat infection should be considered in people who complain of sore throat and have other signs of gonococcal infection. Throat infections from gonorrhea are transmitted through oral sex but occur without any other symptoms in less than 5% of people infected with gonorrhea.

* Rectal pain or discharge can be a sign of infection of the prostate and is transmitted through anal intercourse.

The treatment

Gonorrhea can develop into more serious medical conditions if not treated. You must see a doctor for treatment.

Syphilis

Signs and Symptoms of Syphilis for Men

Syphilis is characterized by four stages. There is an incubation period between of 9 days and 3 months between getting syphilis and showing the first signs and symptoms of the disease. The initial infection starts with about 1000 germs passed on during sex. This bacteria grow to about 100 to 200 million within 3 weeks.
Each stage has typical symptoms but these signs and symptoms of syphilis can vary or be absent.

Signs and Symptoms of Primary Stage Syphilis

The primary stage of syphilis, often begins with a sore on the part that has been in contact with the infection, the genitals, rectum or mouth. The sore feels like a button, firm, oval and round. It usually measures about 1.25com or 1/2in across. Swelling of the glands in the groin may occur but is not usually sore or tender.
You do not usually feel ill in the primary stage of syphilis and the sore heals after a few weeks without treatment. This is a problem because the syphilis has not gone. Syphilis continues to spread throughout the body.

Signs and Symptoms of Secondary Stage Syphilis

From the primary stage the disease moves into the secondary stage of syphilis. This secondary stage of syphilis can often occur after a gap of several weeks when the bacteria have spread through the body. You may start to feel unwell, features include headaches, general aches and pains, sickness, loss of appetite and maybe a fever.
Breaks in the skin occur and sometimes a dark red rash. The rash that occurs in the secondary stage of syphilis can last for a few weeks or months. The rash appears on the backs of the legs and the front of the arms and often on your back, face, hands and feet. It does not itch and may be either raised or flat in appearance.
Other symptoms can also include sores in the mouth, nose, throat, genitals or in the folds of the skin. Hair can fall out in patches. These signs and symptoms of syphilis will disappear without treatment in between 3 weeks to 9 months. The signs and symptoms of syphilis have moved to the next stage, but the bacteria are still present in the body and you still have syphilis.

Signs and Symptoms of Latent Stage of Syphilis

The latent stage of syphilis can last from between a few months to up to 50 years! There are no symptoms and after about 2 years the man ceases to be infectious. However syphilis is still present in the latent stage and syphilis can be seen in blood tests.

Signs and Symptoms of Final Stage Tertiary Syphilis

The final stage of syphilis, is known as the tertiary stage. The tertiary stage occurs in about a third of those who are not treated. Common symptoms are painful permanent ulcers on the skin, lesions on ligaments, joints and on bones. Tertiary syphilis can attack the nervous system, the heart and blood vessels that results in blindness, paralysis, and insanity.

CONDOMS

The word condoms were synonim among us.
Did u know there's a lot of people out there having sex without using this safety material. Condoms were invented around 1000 BC the ancient Egyptians used a linen sheath for protection against disease.

Speaking of disease, did you know that sexually transmitted disease (STD, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, HIV and AIDS were infected by high-risk behaviours of sex.

What is a sexually transmitted disease (STD)?

An STD is an illness that is spread through sexual contact.

How can sexually transmitted diseases be avoided?

* The less sexual partners a person has, the lower the risk of infection.

* Most sexually transmitted diseases can be avoided to a large extent by practicing safe sex (eg using condoms).

* Most sexually transmitted diseases can be cured if they are diagnosed and treated in their early stages.

so have a good sex and use condom of corse.