Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2F and 2H Lecture 13
2F and 2H Lecture 13
INFECTIONS
• An infection that is passed through blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or
other body fluids during oral, anal, or genital sex with an infected
partner
• Sexually transmitted disease (STD) refers to a disease that has
developed from an STI
• Sexually transmitted infections may be caused by bacteria, viruses, or
parasites
• Some infections can spread to other parts of the body, sometimes with
serious consequences
• Most sexually transmitted infections can be effectively treated with
medications
• Using condoms during genital sex can help prevent passing these
infections from one person to another
• Sexual contact, including oral, anal, or genital sex, provides an
opportunity for organisms to spread (be transmitted) from one person
to another because it involves transfer of body fluids
• Some infections that are spread through sexual contact can also be
spread through kissing or close body contact
• STIs are relatively common
• In the United States, over 25 million new cases of STIs occur each
year; about half of the new cases occur in people ages 15 to 24 years
Several factors make prevention of transmission of STIs difficult. They
include the following:
• Unprotected sexual activity with one or more partners
• Lack of education about safer sex practices
• Reluctance to talk about safer sex practices with a partner
• Reluctance to talk about sexual issues with a health care practitioner
• Lack of access to health care
• Infections that do not cause symptoms, so people do not know they
need to be tested or treated
• The need to treat both sex partners simultaneously to avoid
transmitting the infection between partners again
• Incomplete treatment, which can lead to development of organisms
that are resistant to medications
CAUSES
• A doctor's evaluation
• Doctors often suspect an STI based on symptoms or a
history of sexual contact with an infected partner
• To identify the organism involved and thus confirm the
diagnosis, doctors may take a sample of blood, urine, or
discharge from the vagina, cervix, or penis and examine it.
The sample is usually sent to a laboratory for the organisms
to be detected and identified
DIAGNOSIS