Genital herpes during pregnancy is usually safe to carry, and most people with the virus deliver healthy babies. The real danger is a first herpes infection caught late in pregnancy, which can pass to
You can't always stop a herpes outbreak, but you can cut how often they happen and lower the chance of passing the virus to a partner. The most reliable prevention combines daily suppressive antiviral
Oral herpes and genital herpes are the same family of virus showing up in different places. "Oral herpes" means herpes sores on or around the mouth; "genital herpes" means sores on or around the genit
Yes. You can get genital herpes from oral sex. When a partner has an oral HSV-1 infection — the virus behind most cold sores — they can pass it to your genitals during oral sex, even with no visible s
Yes, you can spread genital herpes even with no visible sore, and yes, the same person can transmit it to a partner — but you can't "re-catch" the same type you already have. Once HSV is in your body,
No, genital herpes is not curable. The infection is lifelong because the virus stays dormant in nerve cells where no drug can reach it. But it's very controllable: three safe antiviral pills shorten o
A false positive STD test happens when a screening test reads positive even though you don't actually have the infection. It's uncommon with modern testing, and it's exactly why HIV and syphilis use a
Extragenital STI testing means swabbing the throat and rectum — not just collecting urine — to catch chlamydia and gonorrhea that live where you were exposed. Because oral and anal infections rarely c
Yes — starting HIV treatment early helps prevention. When someone with HIV takes antiretroviral therapy (ART) and reaches an undetectable viral load, they will not pass HIV to sex partners. This is ca
HPV doesn't directly cause infertility in the way an untreated bacterial STI can. The virus itself doesn't scar the fallopian tubes or block sperm. But high-risk HPV can lead to cervical precancer and
Telling your child about an HIV diagnosis — yours, theirs, or a family member's — works best when the words match the child's age, stay honest, and lean on one calm fact: HIV is a manageable, long-ter
Disclosing your HIV status means telling someone — a partner, a clinician, or another person who needs to know — that you live with HIV. It matters most before sex or sharing injection equipment, but
HIV spreads only through specific body fluids — blood, semen, vaginal fluid, rectal fluid, and breast milk — passed during anal or vaginal sex, sharing needles, or from parent to child in pregnancy, b
Crabs and scabies both itch in the genital area, but they're different parasites with different treatments. Crabs (pubic lice) are visible insects that cling to coarse hair. Scabies is a microscopic m
Couples STD testing means both partners get screened for sexually transmitted infections — usually with a urine sample or self-collected swab plus a blood draw — either at the same visit or close toge
Coping with HIV/AIDS today means getting on treatment fast and staying on it. HIV isn't curable, but daily HIV medicine (ART) can push the virus to undetectable levels, protect your health, and stop y
STI testing for college students means routine screening — getting tested when you feel fine — through your campus health center, a local clinic, or an at-home kit. Most students should test for HIV a
Chronic pelvic pain after PID is persistent or recurring pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis that lasts for months after a pelvic inflammatory disease infection has been treated. It's caused mainly by
Chlamydial urethritis is inflammation of the urethra caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis . In men it often causes penile discharge and burning on urination, but it's frequently silent. Left
Chlamydia is curable with antibiotics. The CDC-preferred treatment is doxycycline 100 mg by mouth twice daily for 7 days CDC, 2021. A single dose of azithromycin or a course of levofloxacin are altern
Chlamydia is curable with antibiotics. The CDC-preferred treatment is doxycycline 100 mg by mouth twice daily for 7 days CDC Tx Guidelines. Azithromycin as a single 1 g dose is an alternative. Abstain
Chlamydia is diagnosed with a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) — a lab method that detects the bacterium's DNA. You give a first-catch urine sample or a self-collected swab (vaginal, rectal, or
Most women with chlamydia have no symptoms at all — about three quarters notice nothing CDC fact sheet. When signs do show, the common ones are abnormal vaginal discharge, burning with urination, blee
Chlamydia reinfection means catching Chlamydia trachomatis again after you were already cured — it's not your antibiotics failing. The usual cause is sex with an untreated partner. Because reinfection