Plain-English deep dives on HIV, hepatitis, HPV, syphilis and more.
301 articles
A bad sore throat with deep fatigue and swollen neck glands is most often infectious mononucleosis (mono) from Epstein-Barr virus, but the same picture can be acute HIV, pharyngeal gonorrhea, or secon
Acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir all block herpes from replicating — they manage outbreaks and cut transmission but don't cure HSV. They're equally effective. Valacyclovir is usually preferred
Patchy discolored spots on your chest, back, or trunk are far more likely to be tinea versicolor — a harmless skin yeast — than an STI. Tinea versicolor isn't sexually transmitted and won't involve yo
Chancroid and syphilis both cause genital ulcers, but the classic fork is pain: a chancroid ulcer is a soft, painful sore with tender, pus-filled groin nodes, while the primary syphilis chancre is a p
Chlamydia and Mycoplasma genitalium are both bacteria that infect the urethra and cervix and cause overlapping symptoms — discharge, burning, and pelvic pain — but they're different organisms with dif
Yes — a hepatitis B infection that looks "cleared" or sits quiet can come roaring back. This is called hepatitis B reactivation, and it usually happens when the immune system is suppressed (by chemoth
Hepatitis C and HIV coinfection means a person carries both the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV at the same time. The two share blood and sexual routes, so they often travel together. Coinfection spee
Mpox isn't classified as a traditional STD, but during the outbreak that began in 2022 it has spread mainly through close skin-to-skin contact, including sex. The monkeypox virus passes through direct
No — non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) isn't always from sex. Most cases trace to a sexually transmitted organism, but NGU is a syndrome, not a single infection: in roughly half of cases no organism is
Yes — though it's named for the urethra and described mostly in men, the same infections that cause nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) infect women too, where they more often show up as cervicitis or as a
Pelvic inflammatory disease often causes no symptoms at all. When it does, the most common signs are lower abdominal or pelvic pain, unusual or bad-smelling discharge, fever, pain or bleeding during s
Yes — you can get PID without ever having an STD. Pelvic inflammatory disease is most often triggered by untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea, but not always. Bacteria normally tied to bacterial vaginosis
Recurrent PID means pelvic inflammatory disease has flared more than once — usually because an untreated or re-introduced infection keeps ascending into the uterus, tubes, and ovaries. Each repeat epi
Syphilis moves through four stages. The primary stage is a painless sore (chancre) at the infection site. The secondary stage brings a body rash and flu-like illness. The latent stage has no symptoms
Gonorrhea and syphilis are both curable bacterial STIs, but they behave differently: gonorrhea is the classic "discharge" infection — burning urination and penile or vaginal discharge — while syphilis
Hepatitis A and hepatitis B are both viral liver infections, but they differ in how they spread, how long they last, and whether they're curable. Hepatitis A spreads mainly through contaminated food o
Hepatitis B during pregnancy is highly manageable, and with the right steps your baby is very likely to stay infection-free. Every pregnancy is screened for the virus, and a baby born to an infected p
Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a relative of smallpox. It spreads mainly through close skin-to-skin contact — including sex — and causes a painful or itchy rash that often appe
NGU sometimes quiets down on its own, but "symptoms fade" is not the same as "infection cured." The organisms behind it — most often chlamydia or Mycoplasma genitalium — can persist silently, keep spr
PID and pregnancy collide in two ways: pelvic inflammatory disease can scar the fallopian tubes, which raises the risk of an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy and can cause infertility, and the scarring compo
Yes, you can get herpes from kissing — but it's almost always oral herpes (HSV-1), not the genital type people usually worry about. The virus passes through contact with saliva or a cold sore on the l
Untreated chlamydia in women can climb from the cervix into the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, causing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) — and the inflammation that follows can scar the tubes,
Yes, chlamydia is curable. It's caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis , and the right antibiotic reliably clears it CDC. Most people take a short course of pills, and the infection is gone onc
Chlamydia discharge is usually thin and clear, cloudy, or milky-white — in men often just a single morning drop, in women an abnormal change in vaginal discharge that may come with burning urination.
Chlamydia in the eye is an infection of the conjunctiva (the clear membrane over the white of the eye) caused by the same bacterium behind genital chlamydia, Chlamydia trachomatis . In adults it's cal
No — you can't get chlamydia from kissing or from saliva alone. Chlamydia trachomatis infects the genital, rectal, and throat tissues and spreads through vaginal, anal, or oral sex, not through casual
Chlamydia can go undetected for months or even years, because most infections cause no symptoms at all — roughly three quarters of infected women and half of infected men never notice anything CDC fac
Chlamydia is a curable bacterial infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis , spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. It's the most commonly reported STI in the US, and most people who have it feel
To prevent chlamydia, use condoms correctly every time you have vaginal, anal, or oral sex, get screened on schedule if you're sexually active, and make sure any partner who tests positive is treated
Rectal chlamydia is an infection of the rectum and anal canal caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis , usually acquired through receptive anal sex. It's frequently silent, but can cause rectal
Most people can get an accurate chlamydia test about two weeks after exposure. A NAAT — the recommended test — can technically detect the bacterium sooner, but enough genetic material has to build up
Acute HIV infection is the earliest stage, usually the first weeks after the virus enters the body. Within two to four weeks, many people get flu-like symptoms — fever, rash, sore throat, swollen glan
Modern HIV treatment (antiretroviral therapy, or ART) is well tolerated for most people. Side effects from current regimens are usually mild and short-lived — nausea, headache, trouble sleeping, or fa
You can have HIV for years — often a decade or more — without knowing, because after a brief early phase the virus enters a silent stage called clinical latency where most people feel completely well.
Yes, HIV can pass through breast milk — it's one of the established routes of mother-to-child (perinatal) transmission, alongside pregnancy and childbirth. But the risk isn't fixed. When a parent with
Your CD4 count measures immune-system strength (the number of CD4 T-cells in a cubic millimeter of blood), while your viral load measures how much HIV is circulating (copies per milliliter). On treatm
The earliest HIV can be reliably picked up depends on the test. A nucleic-acid test (NAT) can detect the virus as soon as 10 to 33 days after exposure, a 4th-generation antigen/antibody lab test at 18
HIV drug resistance happens when the virus mutates so that one or more HIV medicines no longer keep it suppressed. It usually develops when treatment is taken inconsistently or the wrong drugs are use
Injectable HIV treatment means taking long-acting shots instead of daily pills to control HIV. The approach uses two medicines given by a clinician on a set schedule rather than tablets swallowed ever
With HIV treatment started early, a 20-year-old diagnosed today can expect a life expectancy approaching that of the general population. HIV is no longer a death sentence — it's a manageable, lifelong
Yes. HIV spreads through blood, so sharing needles, syringes, or any drug-injection equipment is one of the most efficient ways the virus moves between people. When you reuse a needle someone else has
An HIV rash is a flat or slightly raised, reddish or darkened skin eruption that often shows up during acute (early) HIV infection, usually within two to four weeks of exposure hiv.gov. It tends to co
Other sexually transmitted infections raise your risk of getting and passing HIV, mainly because they cause inflammation and open sores that give the virus an easier entry point. An STI like syphilis,
BV after sex happens because semen and intercourse temporarily shift the vagina's chemistry — semen is alkaline, and that raised pH lets anaerobic bacteria outgrow the protective Lactobacillus that no
Boric acid doesn't cure bacterial vaginosis on its own, but used vaginally as a supplement alongside antibiotics it can help clear stubborn, recurring BV by restoring a more acidic vaginal environment
Yes — you can get BV from a female partner. Bacterial vaginosis isn't a classic sexually transmitted infection, but it travels between women who have sex with women: studies of female couples find the
The fishy smell of bacterial vaginosis (BV) comes from amines — chemical byproducts made by anaerobic bacteria that overgrow when protective lactobacilli are lost. The odor is strongest after sex beca
With treatment, bacterial vaginosis (BV) usually clears in a few days to about a week — standard antibiotics cure most acute episodes, with symptoms easing within the first days. Without treatment, BV
To prevent bacterial vaginosis, protect the Lactobacillus bacteria that keep the vagina mildly acidic: don't douche, use condoms correctly every time, and limit new or multiple partners. There's no va
BV probiotics are Lactobacillus -based supplements meant to restore the protective vaginal bacteria that bacterial vaginosis wipes out. They don't cure an active infection — antibiotics do that. The e
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is not classified as a sexually transmitted infection, but it's strongly linked to sexual activity. It comes from an imbalance in the bacteria that normally live in the vagina
Untreated BV (bacterial vaginosis) often clears on its own, but leaving it untreated raises real risks: it makes acquiring HIV and other STIs more likely, can spread to the upper reproductive tract, a
The main complications of pubic lice come not from the insects themselves but from what scratching does to the skin. Persistent itching breaks the skin, opening the door to secondary bacterial infecti
To prevent crabs and avoid reinfestation, limit skin-to-skin sexual contact with new or untreated partners, treat every partner from the last month at the same time, and decontaminate bedding and clot
Recurring crabs almost always come from one of three fixable gaps: live nits that survived the first treatment and hatched, an untreated sex partner who reinfects you, or bedding and clothes that were
To test for crabs at home, examine the coarse hair of your pubic and perianal area under good light, ideally with a magnifying lens, looking for slow-moving lice or for nits (eggs) cemented to hair sh
Crabs (pubic lice) are treated with an over-the-counter lice medication: 1% permethrin lotion or a pyrethrins-with-piperonyl-butoxide mousse applied to the pubic hair and other affected areas, then re
Pubic lice (crabs) are tiny tan-to-grayish insects about the size of a pinhead, with a wide, crab-shaped body and claw-like front legs that grip coarse hair. Their eggs, called nits, are oval, yellowi
Serious complications from genital herpes are uncommon. Most people get little more than periodic skin sores. The risks worth knowing are a severe first outbreak, passing the virus to a partner (often
Living with genital herpes means managing a common, lifelong skin condition — not living in crisis. Most people have few or mild outbreaks, daily antiviral pills can make recurrences rare and lower th
Herpes is diagnosed in two ways, depending on whether you have a sore. If you have an active lesion, a clinician swabs it for type-specific virologic testing (NAAT or culture) — the most reliable meth
For at-home herpes outbreak relief, keep the sores clean and dry, manage pain with cool compresses and over-the-counter analgesics, wear loose cotton clothing, and start a prescribed antiviral early.
Yes — you can carry herpes and pass it on without ever having a symptom. Most people with genital herpes never recognize an outbreak, and the majority of HSV-2 infections go undiagnosed CDC. People wi
Genital herpes can spread without penetrative sex. The virus passes through skin-to-skin contact with a sore, with infected genital skin, or with saliva when oral herpes is present — including from so
A first herpes outbreak usually lasts a week or more: small blisters break into painful sores, then crust and heal over that span, sometimes with fever and swollen glands CDC. Repeat outbreaks are sho
Genital herpes is a common, lifelong viral infection caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2) CDC. It spreads through skin and fluid contact, often with no visible sore. There's
To prevent genital herpes, limit direct skin and mucous-membrane contact with the virus: use condoms or dental dams consistently, avoid sex during a partner's visible outbreak, ask partners about thei
Herpes recurrence happens because the virus stays in your nerves for life and reactivates from time to time — it's the same infection coming back, not a new one. Genital HSV-2 recurs the most, often s
Herpes in the throat (pharyngeal HSV) is a herpes simplex infection of the back of the mouth and throat, usually caught during oral sex with someone shedding the virus. It causes a sore throat, painfu
Genital warts can hurt, but most of the time they don't. They're usually painless, soft bumps in the genital area. When they do cause symptoms, the most common are itching, mild irritation, and occasi
Genital warts during pregnancy are usually harmless to the baby and often need no treatment. Several home wart creams aren't safe in pregnancy, so a clinician removes warts in-office when needed — typ
At-home HPV test kits use a self-collected vaginal swab that you mail to a lab for high-risk HPV testing — and newly FDA-cleared options work much like a clinician-collected sample for cervical screen
Cervical screening checks the cervix for high-risk HPV or precancerous cell changes before they ever become cancer. Current US guidance starts at age 21 (or 25 with primary HPV testing) and runs throu
Yes, you can still get HPV even when you use condoms correctly every time. Condoms cover only part of the genital skin, and HPV spreads through skin-to-skin contact — so any uncovered area can pass th
No, HPV itself can't be cured — there's no drug that clears the virus from your body. But it usually doesn't need curing: in most cases your immune system clears it on its own, and the warts or precan
In most people, HPV lasts under two years and clears on its own — about 9 out of 10 infections disappear within that window without causing any health problems CDC. An infection that persists past rou
HPV (human papillomavirus) is the most common sexually transmitted infection, a family of more than 200 viruses spread by genital skin contact. Low-risk types cause genital warts; high-risk types can
A Pap smear and an HPV test are two different cervical screens. A Pap smear looks at cervical cells under a microscope for abnormal changes; an HPV test checks the same kind of sample for the high-ris
A positive HPV test with no symptoms is normal and usually not an emergency. Most genital HPV infections cause no warts, no pain, and no visible change at all, and in most cases the virus clears on it
Yes — you can get HPV more than once. Clearing one HPV type leaves you partially immune to that type, but not to the dozens of others you haven't met yet. So a new infection with a different type, or
Tell your partner you have HPV in a calm, private moment, and lead with the facts: HPV is the most common STI, most infections clear on their own within about two years, and the types that cause warts
HPV wart removal means clearing the visible bumps caused by low-risk HPV types — either with a prescription cream you apply at home or a procedure your clinician does in the office, like freezing. Nei
Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) treatment usually runs about a week and a half: doxycycline first, then a second antibiotic chosen by whether the strain resists macrolides. Many people carry it with no s
Partners of someone diagnosed with Mycoplasma genitalium should generally be tested rather than treated blindly. Current CDC guidance supports testing and treating the partners of symptomatic patients
Mgen reinfection happens when you get re-exposed to Mycoplasma genitalium after a cure — usually through an untreated partner who passes it back — rather than the original infection never clearing. Tr
Mycoplasma genitalium often causes no symptoms in women, but when it does, the most common signs are cervicitis-related: unusual vaginal discharge, bleeding between periods or after sex, pain during i
A Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) test of cure is a repeat NAAT done 3-4 weeks after you finish treatment to confirm the bacterium is gone. It matters because macrolide resistance now causes the standard
There's no good evidence that Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) reliably infects or causes disease in the throat. This bug is a urogenital pathogen — it's established in the urethra and cervix, but pharyng
Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) and chlamydia are both bacterial infections that cause urethritis in men and cervicitis in women, and they feel almost identical. The key difference is treatment: chlamydi
Molluscum contagiosum on the genitals and pubic area is a benign skin infection caused by a poxvirus that, in adults, usually spreads through sexual contact. It shows up as small, firm, pearly bumps w
In healthy people, molluscum contagiosum usually clears on its own without any treatment, with the bumps fading over about 6 to 12 months CDC. But the full natural-resolution range runs much longer —
Kissing alone almost never spreads molluscum contagiosum, but sharing towels can. Molluscum spreads through direct skin-to-skin contact with the bumps and through contaminated objects like towels, clo
Molluscum contagiosum in pregnancy is considered low-risk for both you and your baby. It's a benign skin infection caused by a poxvirus, and it doesn't cross the placenta or cause birth defects. Sever
Yes, molluscum contagiosum can come back. Beating one round of bumps doesn't make you immune, so you can catch the poxvirus again from a new contact, and you can re-seed your own skin by scratching or
Oral herpes symptoms are most often cold sores — small fluid-filled blisters on or around the lips that break into painful sores and crust over within a week or more. A first outbreak can bring fever,
Crusted (Norwegian) scabies is a severe, highly contagious form of scabies in which thousands to millions of mites infest the skin, forming thick, scaly crusts. It mostly affects people with weakened
No — scabies won't clear on its own. The human itch mite burrows into your skin to live and lay eggs, and without a prescription scabicide the infestation persists and spreads. Treatment kills the mit
Scabies is a skin infestation caused by a microscopic mite, Sarcoptes scabiei , that burrows into the upper layer of skin to live and lay eggs. In adults it's frequently passed through sex and close s
Permethrin 5% cream is the first-line treatment for scabies in pregnancy because it's applied to the skin and very little is absorbed. Oral ivermectin and lindane are generally avoided during pregnanc
Scabies symptoms are intense itching that's worst at night and a pimple-like rash, often with tiny crooked lines called burrows where the mite tunnels under your skin. After a first infestation, sympt
Scabies testing usually starts with a clinical exam: a clinician looks for the telltale burrows, rash, and intense itching. To confirm it, they may scrape a suspicious spot and check it under a micros
Trichomoniasis is a curable sexually transmitted infection caused by a microscopic parasite called Trichomonas vaginalis . It's the most common curable STI in the US, and most people who have it feel
Trichomoniasis complications happen when an untreated Trichomonas vaginalis infection inflames the genital tract. In women that inflammation can spread upward and contribute to pelvic inflammatory dis
Trichomoniasis discharge is classically thin and frothy with a yellow-green tint and a fishy odor, often alongside genital itching, soreness and burning during urination. But the parasite is unpredict
No — trichomoniasis does not reliably go away on its own. It's caused by a parasite that can live in the genital tract for months or years without treatment, so waiting it out usually means a persiste
Trichomoniasis can go undetected for months or even years, because about 70% of infected people never develop symptoms at all CDC, About Trichomoniasis. There's no fixed incubation clock that forces s
No, don't drink alcohol while taking metronidazole (or tinidazole) for trichomoniasis. Combining either drug with alcohol can trigger a disulfiram-like reaction — flushing, nausea, vomiting, headache,
Trichomoniasis in pregnancy is treated with oral metronidazole, taken as a multi-day course, and it's considered safe in any trimester. Tinidazole is avoided during pregnancy because there's less safe
Oral and throat trichomoniasis is essentially not a clinical entity. Trichomonas vaginalis , the parasite that causes trich, lives in the genital and urinary tract and doesn't colonize the mouth or th
Yes — you can absolutely get trichomoniasis without anyone cheating. A current infection can sit silent for a long time, so a positive test today may trace back to a partner from months or even years
Yeast infections are caused by an overgrowth of Candida yeast — usually Candida albicans — that normally lives quietly in the vagina. The common triggers are anything that disrupts the balance keeping
If a yeast infection won't go away after treatment, the usual reasons are that it wasn't a yeast infection at all, that the yeast is a fluconazole-resistant non-albicans species, or that you finished
Oral thrush is an overgrowth of Candida yeast on the lining of the mouth and throat. It shows up as creamy white patches on the tongue, inner cheeks, gums, or back of the throat that can be scraped of
To prevent yeast infections, keep the genital area clean and dry, wear breathable cotton underwear, avoid unnecessary antibiotics, and manage blood sugar and hormones where you can. Most vaginal yeast
Yes, you can have sex with a yeast infection — it isn't dangerous to a partner the way a true STI is, since a vaginal yeast infection isn't usually sexually transmitted. But sex while you have one oft
No — a yeast infection isn't a sexually transmitted infection. Vaginal yeast infections are caused by an overgrowth of Candida yeast that normally lives on the body, not by something passed during sex
To test for a yeast infection, a clinician examines a sample of vaginal discharge under a microscope (a wet prep) and checks vaginal pH, sometimes adding a fungal culture. Home pH strips can hint at t
An untreated yeast infection often clears on its own or stays a mild nuisance, but it can worsen into intense itching, raw skin, cracks in the vaginal wall, and secondary bacterial infection. In rare
Antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea — often called "super gonorrhea" — is infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains that no longer respond to drugs once used to cure it. In the US, gonorrhea is still cu
Disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI) happens when untreated Neisseria gonorrhoeae spreads from the genitals, throat, or rectum into the bloodstream. It typically causes a triad of fever, joint pain
Gonorrhea in the eye is conjunctivitis caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae reaching the eye — usually when a person touches genital fluids and then their eye (autoinoculation), or when a new
No — gonorrhea does not reliably go away on its own, and waiting it out is a gamble that can cost you your fertility. The infection is curable, but only with the right antibiotic. Symptoms often fade
Gonorrhea symptoms usually appear within about two weeks of exposure, when they appear at all. In people with a penis, burning urination and discharge often show up within days. Many infections—especi
Yes — untreated gonorrhea can cause infertility in both women and men. In women, the bacteria can climb into the uterus and fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease, scarring the tubes. I
Gonorrhea is a common bacterial sexually transmitted infection caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae , which can infect the genitals, rectum, and throat. It spreads through vaginal, anal, and oral sex. Many
To prevent gonorrhea, use condoms correctly every time you have vaginal, anal, or oral sex, limit your number of partners or stay mutually monogamous, and get screened regularly at every site you've e
Rectal gonorrhea is an infection of the anus and rectum caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae , usually picked up through receptive anal sex. It often causes no symptoms at all; when it does,
A gonorrhea test of cure is a repeat NAAT done after treatment to confirm the infection is actually gone. The CDC recommends it only for throat (pharyngeal) gonorrhea , tested 7–14 days after treatmen
To get tested for gonorrhea, give a first-catch urine sample (or a vaginal swab) plus a throat or rectal swab if you've had oral or anal sex, then run a NAAT — the same lab method used by clinics and
Gonorrhea spreads through vaginal, anal, and oral sex with someone who carries the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae . It passes when infected genital, rectal, or throat fluids and mucous membranes make
A syphilis chancre is the first sore of syphilis: a single, firm, round, painless ulcer that appears at the spot where Treponema pallidum bacteria entered the body — usually the genitals, anus, or mou
Yes, you can get syphilis from oral sex. Treponema pallidum , the bacterium that causes syphilis, spreads through direct contact with a syphilis sore — and those sores can sit on the lips, mouth, thro
Syphilis has an incubation period of about 10 to 90 days, averaging around three weeks, between exposure and the first painless sore (chancre) of primary syphilis CDC, About Syphilis. After that sore
The Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction is a short-lived flare of fever, chills, headache, and muscle aches that appears within the first day after syphilis treatment — usually within a couple of hours of the
Latent syphilis is the symptom-free phase of a Treponema pallidum infection: the bacterium is still alive and detectable on a blood test, but the sores and rash of earlier stages have faded. Clinician
Neurosyphilis is what happens when Treponema pallidum , the bacterium that causes syphilis, invades the brain, spinal cord, or surrounding fluid. It can appear at any stage of infection, not just late
Syphilis is a curable bacterial infection caused by Treponema pallidum , spread mainly through sexual contact with an infectious sore and from a pregnant person to their baby. It moves through four st
If you're allergic to penicillin and have syphilis, you can usually be treated with doxycycline (100 mg orally twice daily for 14 days for early disease, or 28 days for late latent) instead. The major
You prevent syphilis by combining several layers: use condoms correctly and consistently, limit exposure to untested partners, and screen regularly if you're at risk. For some gay and bisexual men and
A rising syphilis titer after treatment can mean two very different things: reinfection (you cleared the first infection and caught it again, usually from an untreated partner) or treatment failure (t
Syphilis testing uses two different kinds of blood tests. An RPR is a nontreponemal test that measures the body's reaction to tissue damage and can be tracked as a titer, while a treponemal test detec
The secondary syphilis rash is a rough, red or reddish-brown eruption that classically appears on the palms and soles but can spread across the trunk and limbs. It's a sign the infection from Treponem
Chlamydia reinfection means catching Chlamydia trachomatis again after you were cured — not a treatment that failed. It usually happens because an untreated partner passes the bacteria back, often wit
Herpes testing is most accurate when you have an active sore: a clinician swabs the lesion and runs a type-specific NAAT or culture to confirm HSV-1 or HSV-2. Without symptoms, a type-specific blood (
Chlamydia during pregnancy is common, treatable, and worth taking seriously. Left untreated, it can be passed to your baby at birth and raises the risk of complications, but a safe course of antibioti
Yes — you can give hepatitis C to someone else, but only by getting your blood into their bloodstream. The virus lives in blood, so the real risk is sharing needles or drug-injection equipment. It doe
Mycoplasma genitalium spreads almost entirely through sexual contact — vaginal and anal sex that brings genital mucous membranes and fluids together. It's a true STI, not something you catch from toil
You get crabs (pubic lice, Pthirus pubis ) mainly through skin-to-skin sexual contact, when these tiny blood-feeding insects crawl from one person's coarse pubic hair to another's. Less often they pas
Trichomoniasis in pregnancy is a treatable infection caused by the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis that's linked to preterm birth and low birth weight if left untreated. Oral metronidazole is the stand
Trichomoniasis is diagnosed by testing a sample of vaginal fluid or urine, and the most accurate option is a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), which finds the parasite's DNA. The older wet-mount
Yeast infection symptoms include vaginal itching or soreness, thick white discharge that looks like cottage cheese and has no fishy odor, pain during sex, and burning when you urinate. They come from
Hepatitis A, B, and C are three different liver viruses with different routes. Hepatitis A spreads mainly fecal-orally — including through oral-anal sexual contact — and clears completely. Hepatitis B
Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) is treated with a resistance-guided, two-step antibiotic course that always starts with doxycycline. After the doxycycline lead-in, you take azithromycin if your strain is
To stop molluscum from spreading on your body, the single most important habit is to leave the bumps alone — don't scratch, pick, or shave over them, since that's how the virus seeds new lesions. Cove
Molluscum contagiosum bumps are small, firm, pearly papules about 2–5 mm across — white, pink, or skin-colored — and their giveaway feature is a tiny dimple in the center. They appear in clusters, can
Molluscum contagiosum isn't strictly an STD, but in adults it's often spread through sex — which is why it's frequently grouped with STIs. It's a benign skin infection caused by a poxvirus that passes
Gonorrhea is cured with a single injection of ceftriaxone given in a clinic — 500 mg into the muscle for most adults, or 1 g for people weighing 150 kg or more. If chlamydia hasn't been ruled out, a s
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are both common bacterial STIs that often cause no symptoms and, when they do, look almost identical — discharge and burning urination. The same urine test usually checks for b
Most men with chlamydia have no symptoms at all — roughly half feel completely fine while carrying it. When signs do show, they usually appear one to three weeks after exposure: a clear or cloudy drip
Bacterial vaginosis and a yeast infection both cause itching and discharge, but they're different conditions. BV is a bacterial imbalance and usually brings a thin gray discharge with a fishy odor and
Recurrent yeast infections mean four or more symptomatic episodes of vulvovaginal candidiasis in a year. They usually aren't a treatment failure or a sign you caught something — they happen because Ca
Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) shows up differently by sex: in men it usually causes urethritis — discharge and burning with urination that tends to linger or come back — while in women it more often ca
Hepatitis A spreads by the fecal-oral route, meaning tiny traces of stool from an infected person reach another person's mouth. That happens through contaminated food or water and through sex — especi
Cold sores and genital herpes are the same family of virus — herpes simplex — just in different places. Cold sores are usually HSV-1 on the mouth; genital herpes is HSV-2 or, increasingly, HSV-1 on th
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) happens when the vagina's normal protective bacteria — mostly Lactobacillus species — get crowded out by an overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria. It isn't a classic sexually trans
Seven viruses are known to cause human cancers, and the two most famous are HPV (human papillomavirus) and Epstein-Barr virus. HPV is the most common STI and drives nearly all cervical cancer plus thr
An intensely itchy rash usually comes down to a short list: scabies (a mite that burrows under the skin and is often sexually transmitted in adults), bed bug bites, or eczema. The fastest tells are pa
Scabies is treated with a prescription scabicide. The standard choice is permethrin 5% cream applied over the whole body from the neck down and washed off after 8–14 hours; oral ivermectin is an alter
Scabies spreads mainly through direct, prolonged skin-to-skin contact — typically the kind that happens during sex or among people living together. Brief touch like a handshake rarely passes it. Less
Scabies looks like a pimple-like, intensely itchy rash, often with tiny crooked, raised lines called burrows where the mite has tunneled into the skin. Itching is worst at night. Classic hotspots incl
A yeast infection is treated with antifungal medicine that clears the overgrown Candida . For a simple case, you can use an over-the-counter intravaginal azole cream over several days or take a single
Scabies reinfection means new mites have burrowed into your skin after a previous case was treated — usually from an untreated partner or household contact, or from bedding and clothing that wasn't de
Vaginal pH doesn't appear on any major HIV-prevention guideline, and HIV is not transmitted through changes in pH. What actually drives HIV transmission during vaginal sex is contact between infecting
Yes, a yeast infection during pregnancy is safe to treat and rarely harms the baby — but the medication matters. Topical azole creams placed in the vagina are the preferred treatment in pregnancy, whi
Yes, men can get yeast infections. The most common form is candidal balanitis — a Candida overgrowth on the head of the penis that causes itching, redness, and a patchy rash. It usually isn't a sexual
Yes — a yeast infection can be cured. A standard uncomplicated case clears with a short course of antifungal cream or a single antifungal pill, and most people feel better within days. Recurrent or st
Health agencies worry about Mycoplasma genitalium because it's an emerging sexually transmitted bacterium that's increasingly hard to cure. It lacks a cell wall, so common antibiotics fail, and resist
Crabs (pubic lice) and scabies are both itchy, sexually transmissible skin parasites — but they're different organisms with different signs. Crabs are insects that live in coarse pubic hair and leave
To get rid of crabs at home, apply an over-the-counter 1% permethrin lotion or a pyrethrins-with-piperonyl-butoxide mousse to the pubic hair and other affected areas, leave it on as directed, then rin
Crabs symptoms most often show up as intense itching in the genital area, plus tiny lice or pale eggs (nits) glued to the base of coarse pubic hair. Some people also notice small bluish-gray spots on
Yes, pubic lice can live on eyebrows, eyelashes, and other coarse body hair — not just the genitals. These same insects ( Pthirus pubis ) sometimes spread to the lashes, beard, chest, or armpit hair.
Untreated chlamydia can quietly damage the reproductive tract over months to years, even when you feel completely fine. In women it can climb to the uterus and tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory dise
Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by a parasite, while bacterial vaginosis (BV) is an overgrowth of the vagina's own bacteria — not an STI in the traditional sense. Both can ca
Yes — pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) can cause infertility by scarring the fallopian tubes. When infection inflames the tubes, healing leaves behind scar tissue that can block or distort them, so t
You get trichomoniasis from sexual contact with someone who carries the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis . It passes during penis-to-vagina, vagina-to-penis, or vagina-to-vagina sex when genital fluids
Trichomoniasis in women often causes a frothy, yellow-green discharge with a fishy smell, plus genital itching, burning, soreness, and pain when urinating or having sex. But roughly 70% of infected pe
Most men with trichomoniasis have no symptoms at all — roughly 70% notice nothing. When symptoms do show up, they look like urethritis: itching or irritation inside the penis, burning after urinating
Yes — you can absolutely get trichomoniasis again after you've been treated and cured. Treatment clears the current infection, but it gives you no lasting immunity. The most common way people get rein
Oral chlamydia is a throat (pharyngeal) infection caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis , picked up through oral sex with an infected partner. It almost never causes symptoms, so most people d
Yes, trichomoniasis is curable. It's caused by a single-celled parasite, and the right course of antibiotics clears it completely in most people. Women are treated with a week of metronidazole pills,
Trichomoniasis and chlamydia are both common, both often silent, and both fully curable — but they're entirely different organisms. Trich is a parasite treated with metronidazole; chlamydia is a bacte
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
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
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
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 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
LGV and ordinary chlamydia are caused by the same bacterium — Chlamydia trachomatis — but different strains. LGV comes from the more aggressive L1–L3 serovars and causes severe, invasive disease like
Yes — hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted infection, and it's the most sexually transmissible of the three common blood-borne viruses (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV). The virus lives in blood, s
HSV-1 and HSV-2 are the two herpes simplex viruses behind oral and genital herpes. The biggest practical difference is recurrence: genital HSV-2 comes back and sheds virus far more often than genital
The short answer: herpes causes painful blisters or sores that come and go, while HPV usually causes painless bumps (genital warts) or nothing at all. Herpes is a lifelong viral infection managed with
HPV spreads mainly through skin-to-skin contact during sex — not through bodily fluids. It passes during vaginal, anal, and oral sex, and even through close genital skin contact without penetration. B
HPV testing means a high-risk HPV DNA test run on cells brushed from the cervix during a pelvic exam — it's a cervical-cancer screening tool, not a general STD-panel item. There is no FDA-approved HPV
Having HPV during pregnancy rarely harms the baby. The most common change is that genital warts grow faster than usual because of pregnancy hormones and increased blood flow. Transmission to the newbo
Oral and throat HPV is a human papillomavirus infection in the mouth or oropharynx (the back of the throat, base of the tongue, and tonsils), usually spread through oral sex. Most infections cause no
Genital warts in women usually show up as small, soft, flesh-colored or slightly raised bumps around the vulva, vaginal opening, or anus — sometimes single, sometimes clustered like a tiny cauliflower
Genital warts are treated by removing the visible growths — either with a prescription cream you apply at home (imiquimod, podofilox, or sinecatechins) or with an in-office procedure like freezing, ac
Genital warts usually show up as a small, painless bump or a cluster of bumps in the genital or anal area — sometimes flat, sometimes raised and cauliflower-shaped. They're caused by low-risk HPV type
Yes — genital warts can come back after treatment, and that's expected, not a sign the treatment failed. Wart treatments remove visible lesions but don't cure the underlying HPV infection, so the viru
Genital warts in men are soft, flesh-colored or grayish bumps that appear on or around the penis, scrotum, groin, or anus — often as a small cluster with a cauliflower-like texture. They're caused by
Yes, HPV can spread through oral sex, and probably through deep kissing, though kissing is the far weaker route. HPV is a skin-to-skin virus, so any mouth-to-genital or mouth-to-mouth contact carries
Yes — in most cases HPV does clear on its own. About 9 out of 10 infections go away within two years without causing any health problems, as your immune system suppresses the virus CDC. But "clears" i
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 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
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
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, 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
Early HIV symptoms show up about two to four weeks after infection in many people: fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and mouth sores. But some
Oral sex carries a very low but not strictly zero risk of HIV, and ordinary kissing carries essentially no risk because HIV isn't transmitted through saliva. The main concern with oral sex is contact
Yes — women living with HIV reach menopause earlier on average than women without HIV, and many experience premature menopause (before the typical age range). HIV-related immune activation, the infect
Yes — people living with HIV carry a higher risk of type 2 diabetes than the general population. The reasons are layered: HIV itself drives chronic inflammation, some antiretroviral drugs affect how t
PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is a 28-day course of HIV medicine you start within 72 hours of a possible exposure to keep the virus from taking hold. The sooner you begin, the better it works — in t
Most of what people "know" about HIV is out of date. You can't catch it from a toilet seat, a handshake, a shared fork, a mosquito bite, or a kiss — HIV lives in only a few body fluids and dies quickl
Yes — you can have a healthy pregnancy and a baby free of HIV. With HIV treatment that keeps your viral load undetectable, the chance of passing the virus to your baby drops dramatically. The keys are
No, HIV can't be cured right now. Treatment (antiretroviral therapy, or ART) can drive the virus down to undetectable levels and keep you healthy for life, but that's lifelong control — not eradicatio
HIV complications happen when untreated HIV destroys enough of the immune system that infections and cancers the body would normally fend off take hold. Once the CD4 count drops below 200 cells/mm³, o
HIV awareness for your children means teaching them, in age-appropriate words, that HIV is a manageable virus spread only through specific body fluids — not casual contact — and that testing, condoms,
With early diagnosis and HIV treatment, a pregnant person living with HIV can almost always have a healthy, HIV-negative baby. Treatment that keeps the virus undetectable, careful delivery planning, a
The fastest way to tell herpes from syphilis is the sore itself: herpes typically causes clustered, painful blisters that break into raw sores and recur, while early syphilis causes a single firm, pai
Hepatitis and pregnancy mostly comes down to hepatitis B, which can pass from parent to baby at birth. Every pregnancy is screened for it. When a parent tests positive, giving the newborn both the hep
Yes, hepatitis C can be sexually transmitted, but the risk is low. Hepatitis C spreads when blood carrying the virus enters another person's bloodstream, and sex usually doesn't involve enough blood c
Hepatitis C and cirrhosis are linked by time: chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) slowly scars the liver, and over roughly 20–30 years that scarring can build into cirrhosis, liver fail
Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are both blood-borne liver infections that can spread through sex, but they differ in two ways that matter most: hepatitis B is vaccine-preventable and usually controlled (
Hepatitis A, B, and C are three different viruses that all inflame the liver but behave very differently. Hepatitis A is a short-term infection spread mainly through contaminated food, water, or close
Gonorrhea and chlamydia are both bacterial STIs that infect the genitals, rectum, and throat, and their symptoms overlap so heavily that you can't reliably tell them apart by feel. The differences tha
Yes. You can get gonorrhea from oral sex — giving or receiving — because Neisseria gonorrhoeae readily infects the throat, genitals, and rectum. Kissing was long thought to be safe, but newer evidence
Throat gonorrhea (pharyngeal gonorrhea) is an infection of the throat with the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae , usually picked up through oral sex. Most throat infections cause no symptoms at all, wh
A gonorrhea test uses a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), which detects the bacterium's DNA in a sample. The standard sample is first-catch urine or a vaginal swab, plus throat and rectal swabs
Most women with gonorrhea have no symptoms at all. When symptoms do show up, the classic trio is painful or burning urination, a change in vaginal discharge, and bleeding between periods. Because thes
Gonorrhea symptoms in men usually show up as a thick white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis and a burning sensation when you urinate, sometimes with swollen or painful testicles. Symptoms te
Gonorrhea symptoms, when they show up, include burning during urination and an abnormal genital discharge — in men a white, yellow, or green penile discharge; in women painful urination, more vaginal
Gonorrhea reinfection means catching gonorrhea again after you were already cured — not the same infection coming back. The leading cause is sex with an untreated partner, because successful treatment
Gonorrhea in pregnancy is a treatable bacterial infection that needs prompt attention because it can pass to the baby during vaginal birth and cause a serious eye infection. A single ceftriaxone injec
Yes, gonorrhea is curable. The right antibiotic — a single ceftriaxone injection given in a clinic — clears almost every infection of the genitals, rectum, or throat CDC STI guidelines. The catch: med
Untreated gonorrhea doesn't just linger — it spreads. Left alone, this bacterial infection can climb into the reproductive tract and cause pelvic inflammatory disease, scarring, and infertility, and i
Genital herpes is treated with one of three antiviral pills — acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir — taken either at the first sign of an outbreak (episodic) or every day (suppressive). None cures
Genital herpes spreads through skin-to-skin contact with infected genital skin, mucous membranes, or fluids — most often during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. You don't need a visible sore for it to pass
Herpes testing depends on whether you have symptoms. If you have a sore, the most accurate test is a swab of the lesion (NAAT or culture). Without symptoms, the CDC and USPSTF advise against routine b
Genital herpes symptoms most often show up as small blisters that break into painful sores on or around the genitals, rectum, or mouth, sometimes with flu-like fever, body aches, and swollen glands du
Genital herpes symptoms in women often start with itching or tingling, then small blisters that break into painful sores on or around the vulva, vagina, cervix, or anus. A first outbreak can bring fev
Genital herpes symptoms in men usually start as small blisters on or around the penis, scrotum, anus, buttocks, or thighs that break into painful sores and crust over within a week or more. A first ou
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
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
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
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 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
Bacterial vaginosis, a yeast infection, and trichomoniasis are the three conditions most often confused with each other. BV usually brings a thin gray discharge with a fishy odor; a yeast infection br
BV, a yeast infection, and trichomoniasis all cause discharge, itching, and irritation, but they differ in cause and cure. BV and trich produce a thin discharge with a fishy odor; yeast brings thick,
BV treatment means a short, defined course of antibiotics — the CDC-recommended options are oral metronidazole, metronidazole vaginal gel, or clindamycin vaginal cream. All three cure most acute episo
BV testing checks whether the bacteria in your vagina have shifted out of balance. A clinician confirms bacterial vaginosis using the Amsel criteria — thin discharge, clue cells, a vaginal pH above th
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) shows up as a thin white or gray discharge, a strong fish-like odor that gets worse after sex, and sometimes itching, burning, or a sting when you pee. Many people have no sym
Recurrent BV means three or more episodes of bacterial vaginosis in a year. It usually isn't a sign your first treatment failed — it's the condition's tendency to relapse. Standard antibiotics clear m
BV in pregnancy is a common bacterial imbalance that's linked to preterm delivery and low birth weight. It's safely treated with oral metronidazole or vaginal metronidazole gel or clindamycin cream. T
BV sometimes clears on its own, but you shouldn't count on it. Mild cases can resolve when normal vaginal bacteria rebound, yet untreated BV raises the risk of acquiring HIV and other STIs and, in pre
The difference comes down to cause. Bacterial and parasitic STIs — chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomoniasis — are curable with antibiotics . Viral STIs — herpes, HIV, hepatitis B, and HPV —
The term "autoimmune hepatitis" describes liver inflammation driven by your own immune system, but the question most people are really asking is about hepatitis B — a vaccine-preventable, blood-borne
Older adults living with HIV often carry a double burden: a lifelong, manageable infection plus financial strain, isolation, and stigma that can hit harder later in life. HIV is treatable and compatib
HIV is not a young person's disease. People over 50 make up a meaningful share of new diagnoses, and the virus spreads the same way at any age — through anal or vaginal sex and shared needles. Older a
Syphilis in pregnancy is a curable bacterial infection ( Treponema pallidum ) that can pass to the baby and cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or lifelong disability. The fix is straightforward: universal
Oral syphilis refers to sores from Treponema pallidum that show up in the mouth, throat, or lips. In the first stage it's a painless chancre at the site of contact; in the second, mucous patches on th
Untreated syphilis doesn't stay still. After the first sore heals and symptoms fade, the bacterium Treponema pallidum keeps spreading silently, and over years it can damage the heart, blood vessels, b
Chlamydia almost never clears on its own, and you shouldn't count on it. The infection can linger silently for months or years while quietly damaging the reproductive tract. It's curable with a short
Mono, short for mononucleosis, is a very contagious disease caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, a herpes virus.