Importance of STD testing
Not understanding Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)/ Sexually transmitted Infections (STI) and the potential of the latency of the disease, makes people omit treatment as they do not think they are infected. This lack of understanding of the disease, causes further spread of the disease and long-term effects on the victims.
Can STD be dormant?
Depending on the type of the STD disease, STD can remain dormant in a person’s body. This causes people to be unaware they have the disease and not get treatment and continue to pass on the disease.
The infected person often feels completely healthy during the progression of the disease. Lack of treatment causes long term complications.
What are some of the common STDs
Trichomoniasis – This is caused by a parasite called Trichomonas vaginalis. More than 70% of people have the parasite and do not know they are carriers, and they do not have any symptoms. This lack of knowledge due to lack of symptoms can proceed for month or even years. The disease is more common in women then in men.
Trichomoniasis symptoms can appear within 5 – 28 days after infection or it can never show up at all in the human body. However, the person infected can continue to spread the disease. This categorizes Trichomoniasis as a disease that has not dormancy because it can appear with a short period after infection or not show up at all. Statistics indicate that 7 out of 10 people may never show symptoms. The disease can sometimes be mistaken as a yeast infection in women. It is important to get tested if there are concerns or doubts.
Some of the symptoms to watch for include burning, itching, and sore gentiles including a discharge which is discolored. The condition is treated with antibiotics. Testing should be done every three months even during the treatment.
Herpes – The herpes virus (HSV-1 & HSV-2) causes genital herpes. The more dominant virus is HSV-2. The virus causes blisters, and it is easy to catch through skin contact. A person does not have to have blisters to pass on the virus. The disease cannot be cured but there is medication to manage the condition.
HIV/AIDS
This is passed on through body fluids, blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. HIV can be passed on through saliva and kissing.
The disease starts with vague symptoms that have flu-like symptoms, fatigue and fever. It has a life cycle called the HIV life that proceeds through seven steps of the disease progression.
The disease can remain in the cells of a person’s body for years and become active at any time. When is becomes active, it generates more viruses in the body using the CD4 cells to generate more cells generating a viral RNA and viral proteins. The body then starts to reject these cells as it looks at it as a foreign cell.
The disease can destroy your immune system and can cause your body to deteriorate to a point where if cannot cope with the strain of the disease. There is no cure for HIV but there are medications that can help monitor and control the disease.
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C has an incubation period of 7 weeks. HCV RNA appears in the serum early during the incubation period. NIH research indicates that acute HCV develops into chronic infection in 85% of people. Hepatitis C is spread through blood.
Less than 20% of people show symptoms and even if they do, they are not on-going symptoms and is easily missed. Chronic systems cause cirrhosis which can cause death if it goes intreated.
Most people with Hepatitis C do not show many symptoms. Symptoms can appear from time of exposure to symptom onset within 2 – 12 weeks.
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea which is an STI causes infection of the genitals, rectum and throat. The disease often has no symptoms but if left untreated, it can cause sever consequences. It is a disease that is very common in the age group of 15- 24 years.
In women Gonorrhea can cause Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). The side effect of this is blocked fallopian tubes, pregnancy outside the womb and infertile.
The average time for the disease to make its appearance is about 2 – 5 days but could be as long as 30 days. Men especially may not see symptoms and hence not get treatment and continue to infect others. Women most often show no symptoms at all and continue to infect their partners. Women who do have symptoms will show them as soon as 10 days after being infected.
Chlamydia
Chlamydial can remain in your system for months and even years without a person knowing they are infected. The disease is caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydia is common in women (about 70 – 80%) and less in men (50%).
After a person is infected, the incubation period can vary with each person. Some will show symptoms within a few weeks and others could have the bacterium in their system and never show symptoms for month or years. This make testing even more important if a person feels they were exposed or at risk.
In women the disease can cause pelvic inflammation, infertility and ectopic pregnancy. In men, if it is not treated it can cause infertility.
Syphilis
Latent Syphilis is defined without the evidence of primary, secondary and tertiary disease. Syphilis is a chronic condition which has a different stage of the bacterial infection caused by spirochaete Treponema pallidum.
The initial stage of the disease manifests itself with ulcers in the Genito anal region. The secondary symptoms are shown by skin disorders which can last up to many years and as much as 10 years. This if left untreated, develops into more complications like heart and nervous system disorders.
It is critical if a person feels they were potentially exposed, that they seek medical care to stop the progression of the disease.
For all your STD testing and assistance in selecting your appropriate tests, please contact SmarTest Labs at 301-686-8566. You can also contact us via email at contacts@smartestlabs.com.
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