The most common genital diseases
These diseases are among the most common and epidemic sexual diseases in our country! We will explain more about them in the following article.
Dr. Masoud Mardani, a specialist in infectious diseases and a professor at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, said: “Chlamydia” and “gonorrhea” are two very common examples of these infections. The spread of sexually transmitted diseases, especially chlamydia and gonorrhea, anywhere in the world is a warning sign for the increase in the number of HIV/AIDS in the next decade, because it has been proven that about 20 to 30% of people with HIV/AIDS had several infections before contracting this disease. They often have infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea and chlamydia are major sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The main way of their transmission is unprotected sexual contact with a carrier. Unfortunately, most people with these diseases may not have any symptoms; For example, it has been proven that 50% of women with gonorrhea do not have symptoms such as vaginal discharge, lower abdominal pain, or fever and chills. About 60 to 70 percent of men with this disease are asymptomatic. In the case of chlamydia, this number is even higher; So that 80 to 90 percent of chlamydial infections in men and women are not associated with any symptoms. In this case, the person does not feel the need for treatment and does not go to the doctor, and with any unprotected sexual contact, he can transmit this disease to his sexual partner. For this reason, in dealing with these patients, in addition to individual treatment, the sexual partner of the patient should also be treated, even if he does not have any symptoms. If both are treated together and remain faithful to each other, they can experience life without chlamydia and gonorrhea.
What is the difference between gonorrhea and chlamydia?
One of the important points about these two diseases is the overlap of their symptoms; That is, sometimes the symptoms of gonorrhea and chlamydia are so close together that the doctor has difficulty in diagnosing the disease. Sometimes, a person suffers from both of these diseases at the same time. For this reason, by observing any of their symptoms, they should be treated for chlamydia and gonorrhea at the same time. The incubation (latent) period of these two diseases lasts between 2 and a maximum of 5 days. These infections in men are often in the form of inflammation and presence of pus in the urethra, frequent and burning urination, and yellow-green discharge from the tip of the urethra. Chlamydia secretions are more gray and smoky. The main symptom of these two diseases in women is vaginal secretions, which are usually small in the beginning and increase over time, but in general, the volume of these secretions is not very large, unlike infections caused by trichomonas. The color of vaginal secretions in women is the same as that in men.
How to diagnose the disease
In case of suspicion of chlamydia and gonorrhea, if we take samples from the secretions of the duct in men and the vagina and cervix (in case of cervical involvement) in women and perform warm staining on it, we will find the cause of gonorrhea (intracellular gram-negative diplococcus). did Of course, the cause of gonorrhea can be diagnosed after 24 to 48 hours through secretion culture, but chlamydia culture is difficult and does not give a 100% answer. For this reason, in recent years, molecular methods (NAAT) have been used to detect it in genital secretions. This test in Iran costs about 250 to 300 thousand tomans or more. In addition to these, it is possible to find out the existence of these two diseases through a blood test, but this test costs about 450 thousand tomans. While the cost of warm coloring method on secretions is less than 20 thousand Tomans. Of course, these diseases can also be diagnosed by urine test, but it must be mentioned for the laboratory that urine samples are taken to diagnose these two diseases. Anyway, in order to save the patient’s expenses, when they find out that a person has had unprotected sex and has these symptoms, they start treating chlamydia and gonorrhea without asking for a test, because these two infections are considered to be the most common sexually transmitted diseases. In this way, the cost is saved and the patient recovers faster and with less chance of transmitting the infection to others.
Very simple treatment with antibiotics
Treatment of chlamydia and gonorrhea is very simple and is done with antibiotics. Gonorrhea can be treated with an intramuscular injection of a dose of 250 to 500 mg of ceftriaxone or an injection of spectinomycin, or by taking one tablet of ciprofloxacin or one tablet of ofloxacin 400 or one tablet of cefixime 400 mg. For chlamydia treatment, doxycycline 100 mg capsules are prescribed every 12 hours for 7 to 10 days. In addition, taking 1 gram (2 500 mg capsules) of azithromycin also treats chlamydia. Treatment of chlamydia and gonorrhea should be done at the same time and drugs should be prescribed for the sexual partner.
Patients need behavioral counseling
All people who go to the doctor with symptoms of chlamydia and gonorrhea, as well as their sexual partners, in addition to medication and treatment, also need individual counseling to learn about the consequences of their risky behavior and use condoms from now on. These people must also be tested for HIV/AIDS. Research has shown that wherever these diseases increase in the world, the number of HIV/AIDS will also increase after a decade. For example, in Thailand, 20 to 30 percent of women with HIV/AIDS have had gonorrhea, chlamydia, and genital warts one or more times before contracting this virus. It should be noted that condoms prevent the transmission of chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV/AIDS up to 96%, so it is considered a safe way to prevent these diseases, but if the condom breaks during use, it is as if the person did not use it at all. has not used
Transmission of sexually transmitted diseases is not necessarily only through vaginal sex, but anal and oral sex can also cause the transmission of these diseases to the pharynx or anus; Even if the sexual partner is asymptomatic. However, if a person insists on having these relations, he must use a condom. Meanwhile, these diseases are not transmitted mainly through kissing.
Infection today, infertility tomorrow
Failure to treat gonorrhea and chlamydia in men may lead to testicular involvement and acute epididymitis. The epididymis is a part of the testicles that the sperms pass through after being produced in the testicle and enter the fallopian tube. In epididymitis, the testicle becomes so painful that even normal walking becomes impossible for the person. Sometimes these two diseases cause enlargement and inflammation of the testicles (orchitis). The treatment of all these complications is the same as the primary treatment of gonorrhea and chlamydia. Ignoring the treatment of these two diseases in women can also lead to pelvic inflammatory disease. Pelvic cavity infection is also accompanied by symptoms such as fever and severe pain in the lower abdomen, so that the patient feels very severe pain with the slightest pressure on the area below the navel. In fact, chlamydia and gonorrhea microbes can involve the fallopian tubes in the uterus (the passage of sperm to reach the egg) as well as the cervix and vagina. In this case, if the disease is not treated, the person is at risk of uterine tube adhesions. Unfortunately, many women who are infertile in Iran have suffered from pelvic inflammatory infections caused by gonorrhea and chlamydia in the past.
If doctors and specialists notice that the statistics of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia are increasing in the society, they should inform the health authorities as soon as possible so that necessary preparations can be made to increase the number of counseling centers in the field of ways to prevent contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Health Weekly
14 July 1394 16:34
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