Yes — older women are at real risk for HIV. Menopause ends pregnancy worry, so condom use often drops, while thinning vaginal tissue can tear more easily during sex. Many women over fifty are never of
HIV spreads in prison the same way it spreads anywhere else: through blood, semen, vaginal fluid, and rectal fluid — most often by unprotected anal or vaginal sex and by sharing needles or other injec
Transgender STI screening follows your anatomy and your sexual practices, not your gender marker. Screen by organ inventory: if you have a cervix, you may need cervical chlamydia and gonorrhea screeni
NGU (nongonococcal urethritis) and chlamydia aren't opposites — they overlap. NGU means inflammation of the urethra that isn't caused by gonorrhea, and chlamydia is one of its most common causes. So c
The ethics of HIV disclosure center on honesty, consent, and harm reduction: telling a sexual or needle-sharing partner about your status lets them make an informed choice, and modern science reshapes
Nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) is urethral inflammation that isn't caused by gonorrhea. The most common identified cause is Chlamydia trachomatis , followed by Mycoplasma genitalium , and sometimes Tr
In most of the US, yes — teens can get STD testing without a parent finding out, because every state lets minors consent to confidential testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. The
A syphilis sore (chancre) is classically a single, painless, firm round ulcer at the site of infection, while mpox lesions are usually multiple, often painful or itchy, and frequently develop a dimple
Mpox and genital herpes can both cause painful sores on or near the genitals, but they're different infections with different culprits — mpox comes from the monkeypox virus, while herpes comes from HS
Syphilis, herpes, and HPV can all show up as something on your skin down there, but they're caused by different organisms and behave very differently. A syphilis chancre is usually a single painless f
Syphilis and genital herpes both cause genital sores, but they're fundamentally different. Syphilis is a bacterial infection that produces a single painless, firm sore and is curable with penicillin.
Most molluscum contagiosum clears on its own within several months to about a year, so watchful waiting is reasonable for many people. For genital bumps, clinicians usually recommend removal — cryothe
Syphilis is cured with penicillin. For primary, secondary, or early latent disease, that means a single injection of benzathine penicillin G into the muscle; late or unknown-duration syphilis needs th
A syphilis test is a blood test, and diagnosis takes two of them: a screening test (RPR or VDRL, or a treponemal antibody test) followed by a different confirmatory test. Antibodies can take up to two
Syphilis produces the same stages in men and women, but where the first sore lands differs. Men usually get a visible, painless chancre on the penis; women's chancres often sit inside the vagina or on
Syphilis symptoms unfold in stages. The first is usually a single painless sore (chancre) where the bacteria entered, about three weeks after exposure. Weeks later comes a rough rash, often on the pal
Yes — you can absolutely get syphilis again after you've been treated and cured. A past infection gives you no immunity to Treponema pallidum , so a new exposure can reinfect you no matter how many ti
Mgen testing uses an FDA-cleared NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test) on a urine sample or a swab to detect Mycoplasma genitalium 's genetic material. Because macrolide resistance is now common, cur
Syphilis in pregnancy is a curable bacterial infection that can pass to the baby and cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or lifelong disability — known as congenital syphilis. The fix is straightforward: e
Syphilis spreads mainly through direct skin-to-skin contact with an active syphilis sore or rash during vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and from a pregnant person to their baby. The bacterium can't surviv
Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) is a sexually transmitted bacterium that causes urethritis in men and cervicitis in women, though it's often silent — especially in women. It's frequently mistaken for chl
Yes — syphilis is curable at every stage with the right antibiotics. The bacterium Treponema pallidum is reliably killed by penicillin, given as one injection for early infection or three weekly injec
Mycoplasma genitalium is usually curable, but the word comes with a condition: cure now depends on matching the antibiotic to the strain. Because more than half of strains in many areas resist the old
Mycoplasma genitalium can cause real complications when it's missed or undertreated: in women it can drive cervicitis up into pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and emerging evidence links it to tubal