STD Prophylaxis

STD General Information

Sexually transmitted disease (or STD) is the generic medical term used to define any disease caused by pathogens that spread from one person to another during sexual contact. Such pathogens as parasites, viruses, fungi or bacteria can be involved and most of the time the disease is painful or irritating. While some diseases only affect the reproductive organs, others may spread throughout the body causing widespread damage. In situations where the disease is left untreated, severe, possibly even lethal consequences may appear. At this time, there has been identified over twenty such STD diseases.

For some STDs, medication treatment is available. However, other diseases such as Herpes are infections that will last for lifetime even with treatment, while other diseases cannot be treated at all. In some cases, the symptoms of the disease may seem to recede without treatment – but the disease is not cured until proper treatment is administered, and the patient may infect others as well until the disease is completely cured. Sexually transmitted diseases can affect individuals of any age, race and sex, throughout the world. However, their incidence rate is higher among sexually active young adults and teenagers. That is due to the fact that individuals from these categories tend to have multiple sexual partners, which allows the diseases to spread more easily.

STD Prophylaxis

The first line of defense against sexually transmitted diseases is information. Ensuring that you know what these diseases are and how they are spread will allow you to effectively protect yourself against contracting such diseases, and further infecting other individuals if you already carry one such disease. As part of the STD Prophylaxis, the best way to protect yourself against such diseases is total sexual abstinence. However, as this may not be possible in all cases, maintaining sexual contact with just one uninfected partner is the next best method of preventing becoming infected. In monogamous relationships, before starting having sexual contacts, both partners should discuss their medical history from this point of view and testing may be required in order to ensure that both of them are healthy.

Employing the use of latex condoms during sexual activity may not only prevent unwanted pregnancy, but also offers effective protection against most sexually transmitted diseases. Other protective means may also be available; however at this point condoms offer the best protection. They should be employed in any type of sexual contact – oral, anal or vaginal contacts all have the risk of transmitting such diseases. However, condoms do not provide 100% protection against sexually transmitted diseases. Affections such as genital warts may still be contracted despite the use of condoms.

Preventive testing for sexually transmitted diseases as part of STD Prophylaxis every time you switch partners may be advised. This will allow both partners to know the safety of the new relationship. If one of the partners is affected by one such disease, both partners should follow curative treatment and should refrain from having sexual contacts until the treatment is complete.

Sexually active individuals should avoid engaging in sexual activity if one of the partners has unhealed lesions in the genital area (such as sores, lesions, genital herpes or genital warts), or an irritation in the rectal or vaginal areas. They should avoid rectal douching or enemas before rectal intercourse. Sexual activities that may alter or damage the integrity of the vaginal or rectal mucosal lining may favor the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases; for example, females affected by vaginal dryness should employ the use of water-based lubricants during sexual intercourse. Tampons may cause cellular abnormalities and vaginal dryness, so the use of sanitary napkins or washable or disposable cotton pads and absorbents should be preferred as part of STD Prophylaxis.

Seeking advice from a specialized health care professional immediately when you suspect that you have contracted one such disease is highly advised. A specialized doctor can also provide you with further information regarding STD Prophylaxis.

STD Treatment

Specific treatment varies greatly, according to the type of STD. The exact medication to be used, as well as the dosage and intake schedule may vary depending on the particularities of the case, so it is always best to seek the advice of a specialized health care professional in order to obtain the correct treatment. The medication dosage and intake schedule will be determined based on the disease to be treated, the patient’s age, medical history and general health condition; as such, patients should never use the dosage prescribed to another individual, as the treatment may be ineffective and worse, the pathogen may develop a resistance to treatment making curative therapy more complex and in some cases, impossible.

Several types of pathogen agents, such as fungi, viruses, bacteria and parasites can cause STDs, and as such there are different treatment types associated with the causative pathogen. Bacterial diseases, such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, are treated with antibiotic medication. Parasitic diseases such as Trichomoniasis require the use of antihelminthic medication, while fungal diseases (for example vaginal yeast infection) are treated with antifungal drugs. In the case of viral diseases, such as HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus), HPV (human papillomavirus virus) or HSV (genital Herpes), treatment is ineffective in curing the infection. In such cases therapy aims to relieve the symptoms.