Resumo de Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Classification and terminology : Until the 1990s, such afflictions were commonly known as venereal diseases: Veneris is the Latin genitive (possessive) form of the name Venus, the Roman goddess of love. More recently, public health officials introduced newer terms such as sexually transmitted disease in efforts to improve the clarity of their warnings to the public. Specifically, the term STD refers only to infections that are causing symptoms or problems. Because most of the time people do not know that they are infected with an STD until they start showing symptoms of disease, most people use the term STD, even though the term STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) is also appropriate in many cases.Moreover, the term sexually transmissible disease is sometimes used since it is less restrictive in consideration of other factors or means of transmission. For instance, meningitis is transmissible by means of sexual contact but is not labeled as an STI because sexual contact is not the primary vector for the pathogens that cause meningitis. This discrepancy is addressed by the probability of infection by means other than sexual contact.
Pathology :Many STIs are (more easily) transmitted through the mucous membranes of the penis, vulva, and (less often) the mouth. The visible membrane covering the head of the penis is a mucous membrane, though, for those who are circumcised it is usually dry and it produces no mucus (similar to the lips of the mouth). Mucous membranes differ from skin in that they allow certain pathogens (viruses or bacteria) into the body (more easily).This is one reason that the probability of transmitting many infections is far higher from sex than by more casual means of transmission, such as non-sexual contact?touching, hugging, shaking hands?but it is not the only reason. Although mucous membranes exist in the mouth as in the genitals, many STIs seem to be easier to transmit through oral sex than through deep kissing. Depending on the STD, a person may or may not still be able to spread the infection if no signs of disease are present. All sexual behaviors that involve contact with another person or the bodily fluids of another person should be considered to contain some risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Most attention has focused on controlling HIV, which causes AIDS, but each STD presents a different situation.As may be noted from the name, sexually transmitted diseases are transmitted from one person to another by certain sexual activities rather than being actually caused by those sexual activities. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa or viruses are still the causative agents. It is not possible to catch any sexually transmitted disease from a sexual activity with a person who is not carrying a disease; conversely, a person who has an STD got it from contact (sexual or otherwise) with someone who had it, or his/her bodily fluids.Healthcare professionals suggest safer sex, such as the use of condoms, as the most reliable way of decreasing the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases during sexual activity, but safer sex should by no means be considered an absolute safeguard. Abstinence from sexual activities involving other people will protect against sexual transmission of sexually transmitted infections. The transfer of and exposure to bodily fluids, such as blood transfusions and other blood products, sharing injection needles, needle-stick injuries (when medical staff are inadvertently jabbed or pricked with needles during medical procedures), sharing tattoo needles, and childbirth are other avenues of transmission. These different means put certain groups, such as doctors, haemophiliacs and drug users, particularly at risk.Since prostitutes tend to have large numbers of sexual partners, prostitution without the use of safer-sex precautions has often been associated with the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Some travellers such as truck drivers and sailors also often have high numbers of sexual partners (often prostitutes). Prior to the invention of modern medicines, sexually transmitted diseases were generally incurable, and treatment was limited to treating the symptoms of the disease. The first effective treatment for a sexually transmitted disease was salvarsan, a treatment for syphilis. With the discovery of antibiotics, a large number of sexually transmitted diseases became easily curable, and this, combined with effective public health campaigns against STDs, led to a public perception during the 1960s and 1970s that they had ceased to be a serious medical threat.During this period, the importance of contact tracing in treating STIs was recognized. By tracing the sexual partners of infected individuals, testing them for infection, treating the infected and tracing their contacts in turn, STI clinics could be very effective at suppressing infections in the general population.In the 1980s, first genital herpes and then AIDS emerged into the public consciousness as sexually transmitted diseases that could not be cured by modern medicine

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