Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs, venereal diseases) are among the most
common infectious diseases in the United States today. STDs are sometimes
referred to as sexually transmitted infections, since these conditions involve
the transmission of an infectious organism between sex partners. More than 20
different STDs have been identified, and about 19 million men and women are
infected each year in the United States, according to the CDC (2010).
Depending
on the disease, the infection can be spread through any type of sexual activity
involving the sex organs, the anus, or the mouth; an infection can also be spread
through contact with blood during sexual activity. STDs are infrequently
transmitted by any other type of contact (blood, body fluids or tissue removed
from an STD infected person and placed in contact with an uninfected person);
however, people that share unsterilized needles markedly increase the chance to
pass many diseases, including STD's (especially hepatitis B), to others. Some
diseases are not considered to be officially an STD (for example, hepatitis
types A,
C, E) but are infrequently noted to be transferred during sexual
activity. Consequently, some authors include them as STD's, others do not.
Consequently, lists of STD's can vary, depending on whether the STD is usually
transmitted by sexual contact or only infrequently transmitted.
STDs affect men and women of all ages and backgrounds, including children.
Many states require that Child Protective Services be notified if children are
diagnosed with an STD.
STDs have become more common in recent years, partly because people are
becoming sexually active at a younger age, are having multiple partners, and do
not use preventive methods to lessen their chance of acquiring an STD.
People can pass STDs to sexual partners even if they themselves do not have
any symptoms.
Frequently, STDs can be present but cause no symptoms, especially in women
(for example, chlamydia,
genital herpes or
gonorrhea). This can also occur in
some men.
Health problems and long-term consequences from STDs tend to be more severe
for women than for men. Some STDs can cause pelvic infections such as
pelvic
inflammatory disease (PID), which may cause a tubo-ovarian abscess. The
abscess,
in turn, may lead to scarring of the reproductive organs, which can result in an
ectopic pregnancy (a
pregnancy outside the uterus),
infertility or even death
for a woman.
Many STDs can be passed from a mother to her baby before, during, or
immediately after birth.
Because the method of becoming infected is similar with all STDs, a person
often obtains more than one pathogenic organism at a time. For example, many
people (about 50%) are infected at a single sexual contact with both gonorrhea
and chlamydia.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Causes
Depending on the disease, STDs can be spread with any type of sexual
activity. STDs are most often caused by viruses and bacteria. The following is a
list of the most common STDs, their causes and other infections (see STDs with
asterisk mark*) that may be transmitted on occasion by sexual activity, but are
frequently not considered primarily to be an STD by many investigators:
Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver caused by the
hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B may cause people to become very ill for several weeks. These
patients may have jaundice (yellow skin), poor appetite, and other symptoms. A
life-threatening hepatitis B infection is called 'fulminant,' although this
occurs in only 1% of symptomatic cases. However, some people, especially
children, appear to have almost no symptoms when they acquire hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B is spread through exposure to infected blood or secretions.
The body's immune system is eventually able to wipe out the virus and cure the
infection in 95% of infected adults. Unfortunately, some patients' immune systems
are unable to eliminate the virus and they become chronically infected. Children
are especially prone to chronic infection, which occurs in 95% of newly-infected
infants and 5% of newly-infected adults.
