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Chlamydia

What is it?

Chlamydia is a sexually-transmitted disease that can infect males and females.

It stems from bacteria called chlamydia trachomatis. It is passed through contact, via vaginal, anal or oral sex.

If left untreated it can damage a woman’s fallopian tubes and cause infertility. In very rare cases it can cause infertility in men too.

What are the symptoms?

The majority of people do not feel symptoms of chlamydia. Doctors recommend getting regular STD tests (urine test or swab) to detect it.

However, some do experience some side effects.

Symptoms in women: 

• Abnormal vaginal discharge
• Burning feeling when you urinate
• Pain in the eyes
• Pain in the abdomen
• Pain in the pelvis
• Pain during sex
• Vaginal bleeding 

Symptoms in men:

• Discharge from the penis
• Burning feeling when you urinate
• Pain and swelling in one or both testicles (rarely)

Symptoms of chlamydia after anal sex:

• Pain 
• Discharge
• Bleeding 

How is it treated?

The infection is easily treated with antibiotics.

Doctors typically prescribe oral antibiotics, usually azithromycin (Zithromax) or doxycycline.

Gonorrhea

What is it?

A very similar STD to chlamydia, gonorrhea is also bacterial, spread through contact.

It stems from bacteria called Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

What are the symptoms?

Women typically do not see symptoms, but men do.

When a woman does experience symptoms, they are very mild and easily mistaken for a bladder infection.

Doctors recommend getting regular STD tests (urine test or swab) to detect it.

Symptoms in men:

• Burning feeling when you urinate
• A white, yellow or green discharge from the penis
• Painful or swollen testicles 

Symptoms in women: 

• Burning feeling when you urinate
• Increased vaginal discharge
• Vaginal bleeding between periods 

How is it treated?

Gonorrhea is curable with antibiotics, although health officials fear this may be the first ‘untreatable’ STD as the bacteria builds up resistance to our standard methods of treatment.

The CDC recommends treating the infection with a combination of two antibiotics: azithromycin and ceftriaxone.

The infection has already become immune to penicillin, tetracycline and fluoroquinolones.

Increasingly, gonorrhea is building up a resistance to the individual drugs.

Syphilis

What is it?

A chronic bacterial disease, syphilis can be contracted by other means but is typically a sexually-transmitted disease.

In very rare cases, it can be spread through prolonged kissing, as well as the more common routes of transmission: vaginal, anal and oral sex.

It comes from the bacteria Treponema pallidum.

What are the symptoms?

Sufferers develop sores, though these can often go ignored.

The infection develops in stages.

Stage one:

• Small, painless sores (like ulcers) on genitals or in the mouth
• Appear within 10-90 days after exposure
• They disappear within six weeks, and do not leave a scar, before developing to stage two

Stage two: 

• Rosy rash on the palms of the hand and soles of the feet
• Moist warts in the groin
• White patches inside the mouth
• Swollen glands
• Fever
• Weight loss
• This all fades away without treatment before developing into stage three

Latent syphilis:

•  Dormant, no symptoms

Stage three:

• Without treatment it can progress to more severe issues with the heart, brain and nerves
• Paralysis
• Blindness
• Dementia
• Deafness 
• Impotence
• Death 

How is it treated?

In the early stages, patients can receive an injection of Benzathine penicillin G. This will not undo the internal damage but will eliminate the infection.

For those with latent syphilis – and are unsure how long they had it – doctors recommend having three doses of the penicillin injection, seven days apart from each other.