Post Date December, 03 2023
Sexually transmitted diseases refer to a group of infectious diseases mainly transmitted through sexual contact, similar sexual behavior and indirect contact transmission. Such diseases can not only cause lesions in the genitourinary organogenesis, but also can invade the inguinal lymph nodes, and even spread to other important organs of the body through blood, or secondary to other serious diseases. AIDS is a well-known example.
At present, in addition to AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, condyloma acuminatum, genital herpes and genital chlamydia infection are the legal STD surveillance diseases in China.
Gonorrhea can also cause gonococcal conjunctivitis in newborns, and improper treatment of adult gonorrhea or other factors can develop into prostatitis, epididymitis, seminal vesiculitis, or female pelvic inflammatory disease. A few severe cases can develop into disseminated gonococcal infections, leading to sepsis or arthritis, meningitis, etc.
Genital Chlamydia infection is similar to gonorrhea, but the symptoms are relatively mild. The infection can also spread upwards to prostatitis or pelvic inflammatory disease. A small number of patients develop Rhett's syndrome, which may include conjunctivitis and arthritis in addition to urethritis.
The course of syphilis is chronic, but without effective treatment, it is extremely harmful and destructive, and can be transmitted through blood and mother to child. Pregnant women infected with syphilis can cause stillbirth or congenital syphilis in newborns. Syphilis is known as the "great imitator" due to its diverse clinical manifestations, which can resemble many diseases, such as:
Secondary syphilitic rash can be similar to skin diseases such as pityriasis rosea and psoriasis;
Bone syphilis in advanced syphilis causes bone and joint destruction, resulting in osteomyelitis, pathological fractures, etc;
Cardiovascular syphilis causes aortic aneurysm, aortic valve insufficiency, etc;
If it harms the nervous system, it can manifest as spinal tuberculosis, paralytic dementia, etc.
Late stage syphilis often causes significant damage to patients due to its involvement of important organs and susceptibility to misdiagnosis.
Genital warts are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and high-risk types such as HPV16 and 18 are directly associated with the occurrence of cervical cancer. In addition to genital areas, genital warts are also common in mucosal areas such as the perianal area, rectum, and oropharynx.
Genital herpes generally has mild symptoms, but it is a chronic disease that is prone to recurrence and difficult to cure. Most cases only have damage to the skin and mucosa of the genital area, but a few cases can cause disseminated infections such as meningitis and pelvic inflammatory disease. Genital herpes infection during pregnancy may pose significant harm to the fetus.
In a word, what the public call STDs are mainly transmitted through sexual contact transmission, but their harm and affected organs cover a wide range, especially for pregnant women and newborns. HPV infection is an important cause of cervical cancer.
