Venereal Diseases, Venereal Disease, Venereal Disease Symptoms

Venereal diseases, otherwise known as sexually transmitted diseases or STDs, are illnesses caused due to some infection that has, or is likely to, pass between person to person during sexual activity. Sexual activity in this sense is not limited to vaginal intercourse, but also includes virtually any sexual variation including oral sex and anal sex. The abbreviation STD is becoming increasingly replaced by STI, standing for sexually transmitted infection, which covers a broader scope of conditions technically speaking, such as a case where a person has an infection which has not yet become an illness, like for example with the HIV virus and AIDS. Additionally, in terms of perception, the word ‘infection’ comes across in a less negative light than ‘disease’, which can be helpful in terms of education and treatment related to certain venereal diseases.

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Some sexually transmitted infections can also be spread by non-sexual means, such as sharing needles in the case of intravenous drug users, as well as being passed from mother to child. These transmissions are still regarded as STIs or STDs.

Often the terms STD and STI can be deployed in an interchangeable fashion, but there are differences between the two and the switch is not 100% accurate. In the case of an STI, some form of infection will be present in the patient, whether due to viral, bacterial or parasitic infection. This infection may or may not lead to the development of a disease as a result of the initial infection, and the patient may never experience any symptoms of carrying the infection. In the case of an STD, there will be an infection present also, but it will have manifested as a disease with associated symptoms and consequences. Which is why the term STI is more often employed, as it is more flexible and wide-ranging. HIV is an STI but not an STD. AIDS is both.

Several kinds of STIs are more likely to be transmitted by means of the penis’s mucous membrane, rather than in any other manner. Although many can be transmitted via the vulva, and some by mouth-to-mouth contact. Though the head of the penis produces no mucous as such, it is covered with a membrane known as a mucous membrane, which innately allows certain substances to pass easily through it. This is one of the primary reasons why some diseases are far more likely to be transmitted from person to person by means of sexual intercourse than they are by any other fashion (for example close physical contact). It is also the reason why some infections spread more readily as a result of oral sex than they do by, say, kissing.

In the case of HIV, the virus itself naturally occurs in higher concentrations in genital fluids than it does elsewhere in the body, such as in the saliva. Other STIs can be passed from one person to another by minimal skin contact. Herpes is a classic example of a venereal disease that requires no real sexual contact in order to be spread from person to person.

Some sexually transmitted infections can be spread by a person without said person even being aware that they are infected in the first place, even if this is less likely than in a case when symptoms are presenting. Again, herpes can be spread by contact with the effected area when the sores are visible, but can also be spread when there are no visible sores or any other indication that the disease is present. The chance of the latter happening is somewhat less than the former, but a chance is a chance.

Any social behaviour that involves the bodily fluids of one person intermingling with those of another should be considered an activity which puts you at risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease. Different diseases present with different symptoms and complications, and by far the most feared and notorious is AIDS, which is highly infectious, incurable, and fatal.

Abstinence is by far the most effective and least fun way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Failing that, safe sex should be practiced, including the use of condoms where appropriate. Not even condoms, however, are a failsafe protection against venereal diseases. Avoiding sharing needles either during recreational drug use or tattooing can also improve your chances of avoiding infection. Some unlucky doctors have been known to contract sexually transmitted infections as a result of being accidentally punctured with an infected needle during the course of their work. Different types of people will therefore be broadly categorized into ‘risk groups’, with medical staff, intravenous drug users and tattoo fanatics living in central Africa at one end of the scale, and devout nuns living on empty islands off the coast of scotland at the other.

Recent studies have shown predictable links between a person’s social and sexual networks, and their potential risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, as well as the type of disease. In particular, thought it seems obvious to say it, a person will be at increased risk of contracting an STI if they have multiple sexual partners, no matter how careful they think they are.

Some common drug treatments for venereal diseases include retrovir, vitonavir and norvir (for AIDS), penicillin and doxycillin (syphilis and chlamydia), fluconazole (yeast infections) and permethrin/lindane (crabs).

If you think you have a venereal disease, you should see your physician as a matter of urgency, and be responsible with regards to informing your current or previous sexual partners about the possibility that they may also be infected. Some sexually transmitted infections can have serious consequences if left untreated, including cancer.

Venereal Diseases