Sexually Transmitted Diseases (II)

Viral HIV/AIDS: What do you need to know about this STD?

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the pathogen. It should not to be confused with the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which is a condition that the virus can lead to. AIDS is treatable, so that a “normal” life can be pursued and the virus can no longer be transmitted . However, AIDS is currently not curable. Therefore, the treatment has to be pursued for a lifetime.

Without treatment the risk of passing on the virus during birth is very high, which explains the estimated 2.1 million children among the 36.7 million infected people worldwide. About one million people died from the consequences of AIDS in 2016.

AIDS does not spread via droplet infections (theoretically, they could occur: however, there has not yet been such a case). The risk of infection depends on the amount of pathogens in the blood, semen or vaginal fluid that is transferred.

The course of infection can be separated into categories A, B and C: where A means infection followed by an asymptomatic period, B includes the occurrence of symptoms and C means AIDS. Those categories do not represent the strength of the immune defense.

Symptoms: The initial symptoms resemble those of a cold or the flu. They may include fever, swollen lymph nodes, throat inflammation, fatigue, headache, diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of appetite and eczema . Often symptoms do not appear, or disappear after a while.

Specimen: Blood or saliva testing

Diagnostic tests:

Antigen/Antibody tests Nucleic acid tests If any of these tests is negative, you should still do a follow-up test two months later to confirm the result. If the result is positive, the physician will then do another test to eliminate the possibility of a false positive result. To diagnose HIV, tests are available for free at local health authorities.

If the patient has been diagnosed with HIV, the physician should stage the disease and treatment with:

CD4 T cell count Viral load (HIV RNA) Drug resistance Therapy: Currently, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS. With treatment, the amount of pathogens can be lowered to untraceable values and, thus, the virus can no longer be transmitted or cause AIDS any more. Usually the treatment consists of a combination of different inhibiting medication. The medication which can control HIV and prevent complications is called antiretroviral therapy (ART): it is a combination of three or more medications from several different drug classes.

To prevent infection, the PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) can be taken right after the suspected infection to prevent the virus from spreading in the body.

Hepatitis B: What do we know about this STD?

The Hepatitis-B-virus causes acute or chronic liver inflammation. The acute infection most often heals by itself and causes lifelong immunity. However, the acute inflammation sometimes develops into a chronic one which is incurable and requires lifelong treatment. Worldwide an estimated 257 million people are infected by chronic Hepatitis B (Germany 2017: 3,600 cases).

The virus enters the body via blood (highest concentration of pathogens), semen, tears or saliva.

Symptoms: About one third of infected people do not show any symptoms, one third experience jaundice . Another third may experience symptoms including fatigue, headache, loss of appetite, weight loss and fever.

Specimen: Blood

Diagnostic tests: Blood tests, Liver ultrasound, Liver biopsy

Therapy: There are treatments for acute or chronic hepatitic patients.

The vaccination is part of the standard recommended vaccination. The pathogens are reduced with nucleotide medication until they cease to be traceable in the blood.

Genital Herpes: What’s known about this STD?

The herpes-simplex-virus (HSV) (type 1 and 2) most often affects the

face (oral herpes) and second most the genitals. Oral herpes can be transmitted to the genitals and vice versa, e. g. via oral sex. About 12 to 16 % of the German population are infected, women are more often infected than men.

Symptoms: Itching, burning, blisters in the genital/oral area, pain during urination and swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin . After primary infection the virus spreads throughout the body and the symptoms disappear. During this inactive time the virus cannot be transmitted, however, there is the possibility of a latent infection which hides viruses invisibly. From time to time there is a reactivation of the virus with reappearing symptoms.

Specimen: It is diagnosed by examining the blood or blister fluid.

Diagnostic tests: Viral culture, PCR, Blood test.

Therapy: There is no specific cure for genital herpes. Antiviral medications used for genital herpes include: Acyclovir (Zovirax) or Valacyclovir (Valtrex).

Parasitic Trichomoniasis: What do we know about this disease?

Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoic organism that only survives inside of humans (thus, smear infection is highly improbable). About 5 to 10 % of women and about 1 % of men are infected.

Symptoms: Trichomonas vaginalis only causes symptoms in about 30 % of all cases (15 % of men and 50 % of women). Women may experience itching , burning during urination, malodorous vaginal discharge: while men feel a light burning or a little discharge.

Specimen: Vaginal fluid (women), urine (men)

Diagnostic Tests: Microscopic examination. If trichomonas can’t be seen under the microscope, you use rapid antigen tests and nucleic acid amplification.

Therapy: Various antibiotics (most often metronidazole or tinidazole) help to cure Trichomoniasis. Without treatment trichomonas can lead to complications during pregnancy, inflammation and a significantly higher risk of infection with other diseases.

EXERCISE: 1. Symptoms for Trichomonas vaginalis are:

a) Itching b) Vaginal discharge c) Burning during urination d) Conjunctivitis e) Swollen penis

2. There is no cure for genital herpes.

a) True b) False

3. There is no treatment for acute and chronic hepatitic patients.

a) True b) False

You’ll find the answer on the next page.

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://dict.leo.org. www.dict.cc. www.webster-dictionary.org. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Kayser FH, Bienz KA, Eckert J, Zinkernagel RM: Medical Microbiology, Thieme Verlag 2004. CARMEN LOBITZ Carmen Lobitz ist freie Trainerin, Lehrerin und MTA. Sie gründete 1998 in Berlin lobitz seminare, die unter anderem Englischseminare für Health Professionals anbieten.

Kontakt: mail@lobitz-seminare.de www.lobitz-seminare.de

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Lösung für Exercise:

1. A + C

2. A)

3. B)

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (II)

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