Used every time and the right way, condoms are a highly effective barrier method for preventing the sexual spread of HIV, and they cut the risk of gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, and pregnancy C
Lower back pain is rarely caused by an STI on its own, but untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea can climb into the pelvis and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) , which often refers pain to the lower
A few sexually transmitted infections can trigger joint pain and swelling. The most important is gonorrhea, which can spread through the bloodstream and inflame joints directly; hepatitis B can cause
An itchy or painful anus can be caused by several STIs — most commonly genital herpes (painful sores), pubic lice or 'crabs' (intense itching), and rectal gonorrhea or chlamydia (often silent, sometim
Genital itching without discharge most often points to genital herpes, pubic lice (crabs), or scabies — the STIs that irritate skin rather than the urethra or vagina. Plenty of non-STI causes do the s
Expedited partner therapy (EPT) helps stem rising STD cases by treating the sex partners of people diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhea without requiring the partner to be examined first. The patient
Genital sores or ulcers most often point to one of three sexually transmitted infections: genital herpes (HSV-1 or HSV-2), syphilis, and — rarely in the US — chancroid. The fastest clue is pain. Herpe
Several STIs can cause genital bumps or lumps — most commonly HPV (genital warts), molluscum contagiosum, and genital herpes. But plenty of harmless, non-STI conditions look almost identical: Fordyce
Red, goopy, or irritated eyes can come from a sexually transmitted infection — most often gonorrhea or chlamydia reaching the eye, and occasionally herpes. But ordinary viral or bacterial conjunctivit
Cloudy urine can be a sign of several sexually transmitted infections — most often chlamydia, gonorrhea, nongonococcal urethritis (NGU), and trichomoniasis. These cause inflammation in the urethra, an
Chlamydia is transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who carries Chlamydia trachomatis , because the bacterium passes in infected genital, rectal, or throat fluids — penetration or
HIV affects women across the US, and the practical answers are clear: it's a manageable, lifelong condition, not a death sentence. Early symptoms mimic the flu or cause none at all, so only a test con
Bleeding after sex (postcoital bleeding) can be caused by several STIs — most often chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis, which inflame the cervix and leave it fragile enough to bleed on contact.
HIV is the virus; AIDS is the most advanced stage of an untreated HIV infection. Everyone with AIDS has HIV, but most people with HIV never develop AIDS. HIV becomes AIDS only when the immune system i
Several STIs can cause anal or rectal symptoms — itching, pain, discharge, bleeding, or sores. The usual suspects are rectal gonorrhea, rectal chlamydia (including LGV), genital herpes, and syphilis.
HIV and AIDS are not two different diseases. HIV is the virus that attacks your immune system; AIDS is the most advanced stage of an untreated HIV infection, defined by a CD4 count under 200 cells/mm³
A window period is the gap between exposure and when a test can reliably detect an infection. Test too soon and you risk a falsely reassuring negative. For most STIs, a NAAT is dependable about two we
Undetectable equals untransmittable (U=U) means a person with HIV who takes their medicine as prescribed and keeps their viral load suppressed will not pass HIV to sex partners. It's not a hope or a m
HIV treatment is antiretroviral therapy (ART) — a daily combination of HIV medicines that everyone diagnosed with HIV should start as soon as possible and take for life. ART can't cure HIV, but it dri
HIV spreads only when specific body fluids — blood, semen, vaginal fluid, rectal fluid, or breast milk — from a person with the virus enter another person's bloodstream. In practice that means anal or
HIV testing looks for the virus or your body's response to it, using a finger-stick, oral swab, or blood draw. Because antibodies and viral proteins take time to appear, each test has a window period:
HIV testing looks for the virus, or your body's response to it, in a small blood or oral-fluid sample. A finger-stick or oral-swab rapid test gives results in minutes; a lab blood test catches infecti
HIV symptoms in women often look just like the flu — fever, chills, rash, night sweats, sore throat, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes that show up within a few weeks of infection. But women may also n
Early HIV in men usually shows up within two to four weeks of infection as a flu-like illness — fever, sore throat, rash, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, muscle aches, and mouth sores — though many