IV. Sexually-Transmitted Diseases 1. Sexually-transmitted disease: Types, symptoms and prevention A. What is a sexually-transmitted disease? Sexually-transmitted disease (STD) or venereal disease (VD) refers to all types of contagious disease transmitted by means of sexual contact with someone who is infected. Having been infected with a sexually-transmitted disease and fully treated does not mean that you become immune to that disease You may contract a sexually-transmitted disease not only through your genitals but also your anus, mouth, hands, chest, and any other body parts. The symptoms of sexually-transmitted disease vary significantly by type. If any of the following symptoms is found in someone who is sexually active or who has been to a brothel, he should go to a urology clinic or to an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in the case of a woman to obtain medical treatment or visit a public clinic to check the possibility of infection and seek treatment. You have a secretion from your penis or vagina. You feel itchy and tingling around your genitals, with some spots and small or large swelling. You have pain and fever in the back or waist. You have severe pain in the lower stomach. Your genitals ache while urinating; you feel like urinating very often and never feel completely empty after urination. A. Types and symptoms of sexually-transmitted disease There are various types of sexually-transmitted disease, but here we will briefly discuss gonorrhea, syphilis, and vaginitis only. 1) Gonorrhea a. Causes and characteristics Gonorrhea is inflammation in the urethra caused by sexual intercourse with a person with gonococcus and is therefore also known as gonococcal urethritis. It is more easily transmissible than syphilis and is one of the most common sexually-transmitted diseases in Korea. Gonococcus is a germ
transmitted via mucosal contact; it dies quickly in dry places, and thus it is not transmitted via toilet seats, door handles or towels. b. Symptoms In two to five days after having sex, you may feel slight itchiness in your urethra at first. You also will have pain while urinating and feel like urinating quite often. Yellowish pus is discharged from the urethra, sometimes mixed with blood. Women have a secretion from their vagina, and they have difficulty urinating; they have pain in the lower stomach and experience inflammation in the uterine cervix. If left untreated, the initial symptoms of gonorrhea will go away, but this does not mean the disease is cured. For women, major sequelae or complications of gonorrhea include: pelvic inflammatory disease, caused by gonococci progressing into the uterus and then passing through the Fallopian tube to enter the pelvis; a pus collection generated as a result of pelvic inflammatory disease and possibly requiring intra-abdominal surgery; and even infertility, with the Fallopian tube being blocked. Complications for men include inflammation in their epididymis, prostate or seminal vesicle, and urethral stricture. No symptoms are found for 10% of men infected with gonorrhea, and thus they may transmit the disease to their sexual partners without knowing they are infected. c. Treatment Be sure to see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment at the initial stage of gonorrhea. If you are at any risk of contracting a sexually-transmitted disease, you need to visit a clinic and obtain treatment in order to prevent infection from the disease. 2) Syphilis a. Causes and characteristics Syphilis is caused by a highly-transmissible, spiral-shaped germ named treponema pallidum. It is a devastating disease that destroys even your bones, cerebrum, hair, and nails as well as your genitals, brain, heart, eyes, nose, ears, and tonsils. Syphilis is transmitted via physical/sexual contact with or transfusion from someone possessing treponema pallidum, or via a pregnant woman to her newborn baby. Syphilis can be divided into Phase 1 (primary syphilis), Phase 2 (secondary syphilis), and Phase 3 (tertiary syphilis) by period of infection. Primary syphilis: Painless ulcers may be found in the penis, glans or prepuce for men and in the uterine cervix or labium for women.
Secondary syphilis: Various forms of rashes appear on the skin or mucosa. Sometimes hair loss and non-itchy, reddish spots are also found. Such skin irritations seem to naturally disappear in one to two months for men and in three to five months for women, but the symptoms simply become latent and then recur later. Tertiary syphilis: Tertiary syphilis occurs after 3-12 years from the initial infection. During this period, one third of untreated syphilis cases are naturally cured, another one third of those cases remain latent throughout the lives of the patients, and the remaining one third develop into tertiary syphilis. b. Treatment Nearly 100% of primary syphilis cases can be treated by injecting penicillin under the direction of medical doctors. 95% of such cases are still treatable three months from the time of initial infection, but the curability decreases when the disease is treated later. Treponema pallidum is detected by a blood test only about six weeks after infection, and thus secondary syphilis is 100% detectable. 3) Vaginitis a. Causes and characteristics Vaginitis is a blanket term for all diseases causing inflammation in the vagina encompassing bacterial infection, allergy, and sensitivity to chemical substances. This disease results mostly from sexual intercourse, but 30% of vaginitis cases are caused by factors other than sexual contact. Leucorrhea and vaginitis are not synonymous. Leucorrhea is the most common symptom of vaginitis, but it may also be caused by cervicitis or a myoma (part of the skin swelling and enlarging). Many people believe vaginitis is a sexually-transmitted disease, but this is a groundless myth. It is true that many cases of vaginitis are sexually transmitted, but vaginitis may also be caused by a loss of balance due to unknown causes in normal flora dwelling in the vagina or by hormone deficiency after menopause. b. Symptoms The most representative symptom of vaginitis is leucorrhea. Vaginitis may cause inflammation in the mucosa of the vaginal wall or elsewhere, pain during sexual intercourse, and sexual dysfunction or unpleasant smell. All women reportedly suffer from vaginitis at least once throughout their life.
c. Treatment If an abnormal discharge from the vagina is found, this can be 100% treated with diagnosis and prescription by medical doctors. If not sexually transmitted, clean health can be prevented by maintaining proper sanitation in your daily life. 2. AIDS A. Causes of AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was identified through epidemiological study after the first such case was reported in the United States in 1979. It was reportedly transmitted to human beings when a man was bitten by a Central African green monkey carrying human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This is a disease that anyone can develop from children to old men and women. Our body has a defense system against pathological microbes known as the immune system. The immune system is a defense system that defends against pathogenic organisms via leucocytes. Unlike other conventional germs, HIV does not cause a disease itself but infects the leucocytes, undermining the immune system in our body and resulting in death. B. Channels of AIDS transmission (See Korean Institute of Sex Culture, 1988) 1) Transmission via sexual intercourse The semen of an HIV-positive man enters a woman's vagina during sex, transmitting AIDS to that woman. HIV is easily transmitted through anal sex where a man s penis is inserted into his sexual partner s anus. 2) Transmission via transfusion and blood coagulants AIDS can also be spread via transfusion, which is mostly the case for children developing AIDS. 3) Transmission via syringes shared with HIV-positive persons One may be infected with AIDS by sharing syringes used by drug addicts. In the United States, 20% of HIV-positive people are drug addicts; in this case, the contaminated syringes are the very cause of transmission. Rare cases of AIDS transmission include a medical doctor in the United States who contracted AIDS, while taking care of HIV-positive patients, after being pricked by a needle used by an AIDS patient.
C. Transmission of fetus via its mother 75% of AIDS cases are transmitted via sexual intercourse, but AIDS is sometimes transmitted to an infant via transfusion of contaminated blood or blood product or via his/her mother infected with AIDS. D. Progression and symptoms of AIDS In one to three weeks on average and three months at the latest after HIV infiltrates the body, one experiences acute syndromes such as fever, pharyngitis, lymphadenopathy, arthralgia, muscle pain, appetite loss, weight loss, skin rash, oral candidiasis (mycosis), vomiting, and diarrhea. These syndromes last for about one or two weeks and cease naturally, followed by the asymptomatic period. This usually takes five to seven years on average since one is infected with HIV until the late symptoms of AIDS are eventually presented. As the number of certain lymphocytes that HIV attacks declines, the asymptomatic period comes to a close and the patient finally enters the symptomatic period. He or she progresses into the late and last symptomatic period, suffering from various symptoms caused by immune deficiency. Once his/her immune functions are completely lost, the patient dies when major body organs are infected with germs. E. AIDS: Myths and reality Contagious diseases transmitted via air, water or food can be quarantined and therefore prevented. As AIDS has a different channel of transmission, it is not spread to others unless an infection-causing act is made. It is not transmitted by daily contact, and thus one does not develop AIDS simply by contacting a person with AIDS in the subway or working together with him/her in the office. Nor is AIDS transmitted via mosquitoes or other insects. Many people worry they might develop AIDS by being bitten by mosquitoes or other insects as it can be transmitted via syringe. The amount of blood drawn is minimal, thus not constituting the amount of HIV needed for AIDS transmission. Furthermore, HIV cannot survive within the body of a mosquito. F. Prevention and treatment of AIDS You cannot judge if someone is HIV-positive merely be their appearance, and hence you should refrain from having sex with anyone other than your spouse. A safe sex life should be ensured, and for this purpose you should always use condoms when having sex.
A condom prevents a man s semen from contacting a woman s vagina, and at the same time, prevents her vaginal fluid from contacting his penis. In Korea, however, men are often reluctant to use condoms and women find it difficult to encourage them to use condoms. To prevent AIDS, however, a safe sex life should be ensured by the use of condom. Meanwhile, only sterilized syringes and needles should be used. You should not have any injection with a non-sterilized syringe; when having a tattoo or receiving treated in an Oriental medicine clinic, you should check if the needles are sterilized.