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A sexually transmitted infection (STI) typically is spread through sexual contact and can be caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites. Sexually transmitted infections often have no symptoms. Sexually transmitted disease (STD) implies an STI that has started causing symptoms. The two phrases often are used interchangeably, and medical professionals tend to refer to the conditions using the broader term “sexually transmitted infection.”
Common sexually transmitted diseases and sexually transmitted infections include chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, HPV and HIV. Because you can have an STI and not know it, it’s important to practice safe sex and get regular STI testing to prevent spread of the infection and start treatment early.
While many diseases can spread through sexual contact, STI typically refers to an infection that is spread chiefly through sexual activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sexually transmitted infections can spread through vaginal, anal or oral sex. Any contact can spread some STIs, regardless of either person’s gender.
Anyone who is sexually active is at risk for an STI. Good sexual health means taking proactive steps to reduce your risk for STI, according to the American Sexual Health Association.
When an STI does have symptoms, they typically include vaginal or urethral discharge, genital ulcer and lower abdominal pain. Trichomoniasis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are among the most common and most treatable STIs.
Many viral STIs, including HIV, genital herpes simplex virus, viral hepatitis B and HPV have limited treatment options, if any. Vaccines are available for hepatitis B to prevent infection that can lead to liver cancer and for HPV to prevent cervical cancer.
Treatment can suppress HIV and herpes simplex virus (HSV), but there are no cures for these viral STIs.
Same-day, confidential care options are available through Norton Now to get the care you need, when you need it and where you need it. Norton Community Medical Associates primary care offices are located across Louisville, Southern Indiana and beyond. Save your spot in line at a Norton Immediate Care Center or visit a Norton Prompt Care clinic for rapid HIV testing or STI concerns.
Use Norton eCare video visits to discuss your STI symptoms with a Norton Healthcare provider confidentially from anywhere in Kentucky or Indiana for care without coming into the office. Your provider can order drive-thru lab testing for you at Norton Healthcare Express Services if it’s needed.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — all bacterial STIs —can be cured with antibiotics. Trichomoniasis, a parasitic STI, also responds to antibiotics. Antiviral medications can slow the progress of HIV and herpes.
Bacterial vaginosis is a common condition of too much bacteria in the vagina. Bacterial vaginosis typically has no significant symptoms. If you are pregnant and have bacterial vaginosis, your baby is more likely to be born early or with a low birth weight.
Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial STI in the United States, according to the CDC. Chlamydia can infect any gender and can permanently damage the female reproductive system, making pregnancy difficult or impossible.
Chlamydia can be cured with the right treatment. It’s common to get a repeat infection, and you should get tested again about three months after your first treatment.
Chlamydia often has no symptoms, but when it does, an abnormal vaginal discharge may be present, along with a burning sensation when urinating. Male symptoms can include penile discharge and burning when urinating.
If the infection is in the rectum, symptomatic chlamydia can cause rectal pain, discharge and bleeding.
This is a common STI, especially among people ages 15 to 24. If you are pregnant and have gonorrhea, you can pass the infection to your baby during delivery.
Gonorrhea often has no symptoms and can cause serious long-term complications. Even when gonorrhea has symptoms, in female patients the condition can be confused with a bladder or vaginal infection.
In the female anatomy, symptoms can include painful urination, increased vaginal discharge and vaginal bleeding between periods. If males have symptoms, they can also include painful urination and white, yellow or green penis discharge.
A rectal infection that causes symptoms can result in discharge, anal itching, soreness, bleeding and painful bowel movements.
Hepatitis A or hepatitis B can be transmitted sexually. Vaccination is the most effective means of preventing hepatitis A transmission among people at risk for infection. Hepatitis B also can be prevented by vaccination. Those who haven’t been vaccinated are at risk if they use injected drugs or have sexual contact.
Many people with hepatitis have no symptoms and don’t know they’re infected. Any symptoms of an acute infection can start two weeks to six months after exposure. Symptoms can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain and jaundice. Chronic viral hepatitis symptoms can take decades to develop.
The herpes simplex virus causes genital herpes. In most cases, the infection has no symptoms. Signs like a pimple or ingrown hair may not raise concern. When herpes does show noticeable symptoms, it appears as genital, rectal or oral blisters that break and leave painful sores. The first outbreak of herpes also can come with fever and body aches. Genital herpes is a lifelong infection, but outbreaks and their severity decrease over time.
Make an appointment with your health care provider if you have any symptoms of herpes.
HIV attacks your immune system and, without treatment, can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV is a chronic infection, meaning you’ll have it for the rest of your life, and there is no cure. But the virus can be controlled, and while you maintain proper treatment you can live a long and healthy life and avoid spreading the virus.
The only way to know if you have HIV is to get tested. Some people experience flu-like symptoms of sore throat, fatigue, fever and muscle aches within a few weeks of infection. HIV is spread only through certain bodily fluids: blood, semen, preseminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids and breast milk.
You can prevent the spread of HIV by using condoms, never sharing needles or syringes and using preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and postexposure prophylaxis (PEP). HIV treatment can help you maintain an undetectable viral load to reduce your chances of spreading HIV.
HIV testing allows you to start treatment and take steps to protect those close to you if you are HIV positive. The CDC recommends everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested at least once. Those at higher risk for infection should get tested more often.
HIV tests normally are performed on blood or oral fluid and can be performed at home or with a health care professional, such as your primary care provider. Local health departments in Louisville and Southern Indiana also will perform HIV tests for free or at low cost if you qualify. Visit GetTested.CDC.gov to find a testing location near you.
An HPV infection is very common. Indeed, most everyone will get an HPV infection at some point. About 90% of HPV infections will go away within two years, but some will persist and can cause cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus and throat later in life.
The HPV vaccine helps prevent infection and reduces the risk of cancer. The vaccine can be given as young as age 9. Children under age 15 need two doses, usually at ages 11 and 12. Children who receive their first dose over age 15 need three doses. The vaccine is recommended for young children because it is most effective before exposure to the virus.
You can get HPV through intimate skin-to-skin contact including vaginal, anal or oral sex with a sexual partner who has the virus. That includes sexual activity between two women.
Those who have the virus often have no signs or symptoms.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection that can be cured with the right antibiotics prescribed by a health care professional. It is one of the most common STIs.
Syphilis goes through four stages. Symptoms of the first stage include one or more sores where the bacteria entered your body. These areas include the penis, vagina, anus, rectum, lips or inside the mouth. The sores are usually firm, round and painless and lasts three to six weeks. The sores will heal on their own, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t sick anymore. That means the infection is progressing to the second stage.
The second stage usually starts with a rash on one or more areas of your body, including the palms of your hands and bottoms of your feet. The rash is typically faint, and you may not notice it. Other symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, patchy hair loss and fatigue can develop. The infection then can enter the third, latent, stage where you have no symptoms for years.
The fourth stage, tertiary syphilis, doesn’t develop in most people. When it does develop, it shows up 10 to 30 years after infection and can strike your heart and blood vessels, brain and nervous system. The damage to your body can be deadly. A health care provider can diagnose tertiary syphilis.
Syphilis can be detected with a blood test, and while antibiotics can cure it, they won’t reverse any damage done to your body.
A sexual partner may have syphilis, and you may not notice any signs such as sores in the vagina, anus, mouth or under the foreskin of the penis.
You also can pass syphilis to your baby while pregnant, a condition called congenital syphilis.
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