Human Biology (STI's)

Question 1

What is an STI?

Answer 1

Infections that are transmitted by close body contact, usually with the genital organs.

Question 2

What are STI’s caused by?

Answer 2

Viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites that are passed from an infected person to a partner during sexual activity.

Question 3

Most STi’s have a vaccine true or false?

Answer 3

False.

Question 4

What is chlamydia caused by and how is it transmitted?

Answer 4

A highly specialised bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis.
Chlamydia trachomatis is transmitted by vaginal or anal sex with an infected person. Both men and women may be infected, and it occurs mostly in people aged under 25 years.

Question 5

What infection may men develop and what are the symptoms for Chlamydia?

Answer 5

Men may develop an infection of the urethra known as nonspecific urethritis (NSU), which has the symptoms of a yellow, mucus-like discharge from the penis and a burning sensation when passing urine.
If untreated the bacterium can spread to the epididymis, causing epididymitis (pain and swelling).

Question 6

What symptoms are present in women for Chlamydia?

Answer 6

Most infected women have no symptoms. This makes the disease very dangerous, because if untreated it can lead to infertility, eye infection and arthritis. Some women show symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which is inflammation of the organs in the pelvic region such as the uterus and uterine tubes. Continual inflammation of the uterine tubes may lead to blockage by scar tissue, and thus to infertility.

Question 7

What is an ectopic pregnancy and when could this occur?

Answer 7

Implantation of an embryo outside the uterus – an ectopic pregnancy – may also occur if a woman is infected with chlamydia. If the infected woman is pregnant, there is a 70% chance that the disease will be passed to the foetus during birth

Question 8

How is chlamydia treated and diagnosed?

Answer 8

urine test can be done in males and in females.
swab from the vagina, cervix, anus or penis.

If infection by Chlamydia is confirmed, the usual treatment is a course of antibiotics, although even with prolonged treatment the bacterium may never be completely eliminated from the body.

Question 9

What is Gonorrhoea?

Answer 9

An infectious disease that mainly affects the mucous membranes of the excretory and reproductive systems, the rectum, and occasionally the eyes and throat.

Question 10

What is Gonorrhea caused by?

Answer 10

Caused by a bacterium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, that is transmitted during sexual intercourse. The disease affects both males and females,
symptoms appear about 2–10 days after infection, although in females these may not be recognised.

Question 11

What is incubation period?

Answer 11

The period between infection and the appearance of symptoms

Question 12

What are the symptoms of Gonorrhea in males?

Answer 12

the bacterium enters the urethra during intercourse with an infected partner. After the incubation period, inflammation in the urethra results in a burning feeling in the penis and extreme pain when passing urine. Later, there is a yellow discharge of pus from the penis. If untreated, the urethra may become permanently constricted, resulting in difficulty in urinating. If untreated, the infection can spread to other organs of the body, such as to the testes, causing eventual sterility; to the joints, causing a type of arthritis; or to the heart or eyes.

Question 13

What are the symptoms of Gonorrhea in females?

Answer 13

In females, the disease is sometimes considered more serious, as there may be no early symptoms, or the symptoms may go unrecognised in more than 70% of infected women. Bacteria enter the vagina during intercourse with an infected male. In most cases, the urethra or cervix are infected. A woman may have the disease for months before pain causes her to seek medical treatment. Untreated, the infection spreads to the oviducts and to the abdominal membranes. Oviduct infection may cause permanent blockage and thus infertility.

Question 14

What are the treatments of Gonorrhea

Answer 14

Antibiotics are used in the treatment of gonorrhoea and normally result in an easy and effective cure, provided treatment is begun early enough. However, strains of gonococcus that are resistant to antibiotics have evolved and in some cases are becoming increasingly difficult to cure.

Question 15

What is Syphilis caused by?

Answer 15

Syphilis is caused by a thin, flexible, spiral-shaped bacterium, Treponema pallidum. The disease is normally contracted by direct sexual contact and affects men and women in the same way.

Question 16

What is the primary stage of Syphilis?

Answer 16

Primary stage:
syphilis bacterium enters through any small break in the skin during sexual activity with an infected person, then
multiplies and spreads through the whole body ranging from 10 days to 10 weeks.

Question 17

What is the secondary stage of Syphilis?

Answer 17

Secondary stage:
usually follows a few weeks after the primary stage, but may be delayed for up to 12 months.
Possible symptoms include skin rashes, sore or ulcerated mouth or throat, mild fevers, and disorders of the bones or eyes.
The patient is highly infectious during this stage, which lasts for about 2 years.

Question 18

What is latent stage of Syphilis?

Answer 18

Latent stage:
begins when symptoms from the primary and secondary stages go away.
The latent stage has no noticeable symptoms
It may last for many years, and in some cases for the rest of the person’s life
infection cannot be passed on to others.
sometimes the symptoms of the secondary stage return the infection can then be passed to others while the symptoms persist.

Question 19

What is the tertiary stage of Syphilis?

Answer 19

Tertiary stage:
Even without treatment, only a minority of people infected with syphilis develop the complications associated with the tertiary stage, or late stage.
when symptoms do appear again the results may be devastating:
syphilitic heart disease, insanity, blindness, weakening of the blood vessels, physical incapacity, and many other serious afflictions.

Question 20

What are antibiotics of Syphilis?

Answer 20

Antibiotics are the usual treatment for all stages of syphilis, and during the primary stage, cure is relatively easy. Surgery becomes necessary in the later stages.

Question 21

What are the 2 forms of genital herpes and their symptoms?

Answer 21

Herpes simplex type 1 (HSV1) usually produces ‘cold sores’ on the lips but can also affect the genitals.

Herpes simplex type 2 (HSV2) produces blisters on the genital organs.

Question 22

How are the 2 types of genital herpes transmitted?

Answer 22

Both types of the virus are transmitted by skin-to-skin contact and can therefore be passed on during genital, oral or anal sex.

Question 23

What are some symptoms of genital herpes?

Answer 23

Blisters develop in areas such as the penis of males, and the labia and vagina of females. There may also be accompanying flu-like symptoms or a rash. The blisters break, forming ulcers that then develop scabs.

Question 24

Can healing occur in genital herpes?

Answer 24

Healing occurs over a period of one or two weeks. Although healing has occurred, some of the virus passes into the nervous system, where it remains for life. The virus can then reinfect the skin or mucous membranes of the genital organs at any time, and the blisters can recur for the rest of the person’s life.

Question 25

What is the treatment for genital herpes?

Answer 25

There is no way of removing the herpes virus from the body once infected. The treatment for genital herpes includes medication to reduce the pain, saline dressings to clean up the blisters, and sexual abstinence for the duration of the eruption. Antiviral drugs specific to herpes can be prescribed. They do not cure the disease but act to reduce the severity and length of an attack.

Question 26

Where are genital warts found and what do they look like?

Answer 26

Genital warts are usually found on the genital area – the vagina, labia, cervix or penis – but may occasionally be found around the anus or in the throat. They may be flat, raised or cauliflower-like growths.

Question 27

What virus causes genital warts?

Answer 27

The warts are caused by a virus, the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Question 28

How is genital warts passed?

Answer 28

Genital warts are passed on by a sexual partner infected by the virus. As the warts may be inside the vagina or penis where they cannot be seen, there is a risk of being infected by a person who is unaware of the infection.

Question 29

What is HIV known to cause?

Answer 29

HIV is known to cause AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Almost all cases of HIV infection eventually result in AIDS.

Question 30

What does HIV do to the body?

Answer 30

Infection with HIV weakens the body’s immune system, and so the infected person is susceptible to infection by other micro-organisms and to some forms of cancer.

Question 31

What does Acquired mean, and syndrome mean?

Answer 31

Acquired means that the condition is not inherited, and syndrome refers to a set of symptoms or illnesses that occur as a result of one cause – in this case, an infection by HIV.

Question 32

What is the first stage infection of HIV?

Answer 32

Acute infection. When a person is first infected with HIV, the virus replicates rapidly and the level of HIV in the blood is high. During this time, an infected person may suffer flu-like symptoms. The immune response overcomes the infection at this stage and the patient recovers. This stage lasts two to three weeks.

Question 33

What is the second stage infection of HIV?

Answer 33

Chronic infection. The second stage is asymptomatic, where the person appears fit and well. The virus continues to multiply, but at a low rate. This stage may last 10 years or longer.

Question 34

What is the third stage infection of HIV?

Answer 34

AIDS. A person develops AIDS when the immune system has been damaged to the degree that it is no longer able to resist other infections. At this stage, the person has a high viral load and a low level of helper T-lymphocytes.

Question 35

How is HIV transferred and what are substances that can transfer it?

Answer 35

HIV is transferred when body fluid from one person enters the bloodstream or comes in contact with the mucous membranes of another. The body fluids that are able to carry enough HIV to be infectious are blood, seminal fluid, vaginal and cervical fluids, and breast milk.

Question 36

How are HIV fluids spread?

Answer 36

These fluids may be spread by:
unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person
sharing of needles and syringes with an infected person
an infected mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding
blood transfusions in countries where blood is not carefully tested
implements that pierce the skin if they have not been sterilised – for example, equipment used for piercing, tattooing, or medical procedures.

Question 37

How is HIV diagnosed?

Answer 37

If a person thinks they may have been infected with HIV, a treatment called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can be given. A course of drugs must be taken for a month and must be started within three days of the possible exposure to HIV. The drugs prevent the replication of the virus so that it does not become established in the body. It is not 100% effective.

Infection with HIV can be diagnosed by tests that detect the presence of an HIV antibody in the blood. Depending on the individual, it takes 2 -12 weeks for the antibodies to build up to the point where they can be detected.

Question 38

What is viral load?

Answer 38

In Australia, other tests for HIV are also available that measure viral load. ‘Viral load’ is the term used to describe the amount of HIV in the blood and gives an indication of the activity of the virus.

Question 39

Is there treatment for HIV?

Answer 39

There is currently no cure for HIV infection or a vaccine to prevent infection. There are a number of antiretroviral drugs that inhibit the reproductive cycle of the virus.
These combination therapies have resulted in slowing the replication of HIV and suppressing the progression of the disease for some people.
In certain cases, they reduce the viral load to levels that cannot be detected. However, the virus still remains in the body in such tissues as the spleen and lymph nodes. Therefore, therapy must be continued indefinitely.

Question 40

How can STI’s be prevented?

Answer 40

Practising safe sex reduces the transfer of STIs significantly.
Safe sex involves taking precautions to make sure that your partner’s semen, vaginal fluids or blood do not enter your body and that your fluids do not enter your partner’s body.

For vaginal or anal intercourse, safe sex involves the use of a condom. This prevents exchange of body fluids and has the added advantage that it prevents pregnancy.
For oral sex, condoms or dental dams can be used. A dental dam is a square of very thin latex that can be used as a barrier during oral sex.
Additionally, any parts of the body that may be infectious, such as warts or herpes sores, should be covered and contact with those parts avoided.

Question 41

What is contact tracing?

Answer 41

Tracing the sexual contacts of patients, the clinics aim to locate and treat people who unknowingly have these diseases. In this way, the spread of the disease can be limited.

Question 42

How does education help treat STI’s?

Answer 42

If people know the dangers, and are aware of the symptoms, they are more likely to seek treatment early, when the disease is more easily cured and before they pass it on to others.

Question 43

What are chancres?

Answer 43

The first symptom is one or more small sores, known as chancres. These usually appear on the sex organs but may occur elsewhere on the skin such as lip, finger or eyelid.