PATHOLOGY- Sexually transmitted infections Flashcards
Name the 8 most common STIs
- Syphilis
- Gonorrhea
- Chlamydia
- Trichomoniasis
- Hepatitis B
- Herpes Simplex
- HIV
- Human papilloma virus (HPC)
Name the 4 STIs that are curable
- Syphilis
- Gonorrhea
- Chlamydia
- Trichomoniasis
Name the 4 STIs that are incurable (at present)
- Hepatitis B
- Herpes Simplex
- HIV
- Human papilloma virus (HPC)
How do we treat bacterial (chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis) and parasitic (trichomoniasis) STIs
Single dose antibiotics
Which STIs are caused by bacteria?
Chlamydia
Gonorrhoea
Syphilis
Which STIs are caused by parasites?
Trichomoniasis
How do we treat Herpes/ HIV?
Antivirals can modulate the disease but cannot cure it
How do we treat hepatitis B?
Antivirals can modulate the virus and slow the liver damage but can’t cure it
which STI especially has a rapid increasing rate of antimicrobial resistance
gonorrhoea
Have the cases of genital warts increased or decreased since 2018?
decreased (because of the HPV vaccine)
How do we classify STIs?
In two categories:
- Bacterial (or parasitic) origin
- Viral
Describe STIs that are bacterial (or parasitic) in origin
- Often asymptomatic
- Damage usually occurs prompt to treatment
- Treated with antibiotics
Describe STIs that are viral in origin
- Cannot be cured
- We treat the symptoms
- Remains in the body and can reoccur
List the STIS that are of a viral origin
- Herpes
- HPV
- Hep B
- HIV
What are the risk factors of STIs
- Unprotected sex
- Oral sex
- Multiple partners
- Previous STIs
- Alcohol and recreational drug misuse
- injecting drugs
- Meds for erectile dysfunction
- Being young
- Holiday sex
Is syphilis chronic or acute?
Chronic
Name the bacteria that causes syphilis
Treponema pallidum
why is syphilis spirochete
corkscrew shaped
How is syphiliss spread?
Almost exclusively transmitted sexually
But in some cases can be mother to child (vertical)
Very rarely can be transmitted haematogenously
How many stages does syphilis have and what are they?
- Primary
- Secondary
- Latent
- Tertiary
When does primary syphilis develop?
Usually 2-3 weeks after primary infection
Describe the clinical presentation and symptoms of primary syphilis
- Theres usually a lesion (known as a chancre) at the site of infection
- Progresses to an ulcer over 7 days
- Is painless, solitary, indurates and has a clean base
- Can be found on the glans, corona, labia, fourchette or perineum
- Can be extra genital (EG oral cavity)
- Localused painless lymph nose enlargement (lymphadenopathy)
Does the chancre caused by primary syphilis heal?
Yes it can heal naturally with or without treatment
How does syphilis spread around the body?
By haematological and lymphatic dissemination
When does secondary syphilis develop?
2weeks - 6 months post exposure
Concurrent or up to 8 weeks after chance
Describe the clinical presentation and symptoms of secondary syphilis
- Painless superficial lesion of skin / mucosa
- Can show up on the palms and soles of feet
- rash diffuses and is often symmetric
- In moist areas of the skin you can find opercular lesions called condylomata lata
- Enlarged lymph nodes
- Mild neurosyphilis
How long does secondary syphilis last?
Several weeks and then the person enters the latent stage
Are the symptoms and effects of neurosyphilis at any stage of syphilis the same?
NO
Neurosyphilis of secondary syphilis is mild and not the same as neurosyphilis of tertiary syphilis
Describes what happens in the latent syphilis phase
- It is asymptomatic
- The disease goes ‘quiet’
- Secondary reinfection occurs 25% of the time
Define latent
UK defines it as less than a year post infection
Name the 3 main clinical manifestations of tertiary syphilis
- Neurosyphilis
- Cardiovascular
- Benign tertiary/ gummatous
Is tertiary syphilis more common in treated or untreated patients
Untreated
who does tertairy syphilis affect
1/3 untreated patients, usually after a latent period of 5 years or more.
Name the 3 components of neurosyphilis
- Meningovascular syphilis
- General paresis
- Tapes dorsalis
What is effected if someone has Meningovascular syphilis?
The meninges around the brain are affected (base of the brain, cerebral convexities and spinal leptomeninges)
Describe what happens to a person who has meningovascular neurosyphilis
- Chronic meningitis (base of the brain, cerebral convexities and spinal leptomeninges)
- . Obliterative vascular inflammation occurs in the brain (Heubner arteries)
- Inflammation of small/ medium CNS arteries which can lead to stroke or stroke like symptoms
- Cerebral gummas in the meninges and can extend into the parenchyma
What are cerebral gummas?
Plasma rich mass lesions
What happens in general paresis?
Invasion of the brain by T. palladium
Give some symptoms are clinical presentations of general paresis
- Memory loss
- Personality change
- Depression, mania and psychosis
- Dysarthria
- Hypotonia, tremor
- Insidious progressive cognitive impairment associated with mood alterations
- Ends with severe dementia
What does general paresis usually end with?
Severe Dementia
What happens in tabes dorsalis?
Affects the nerves final column/ peripheral nerves
Give some symptoms and clinical presentations of tabes dorsalis
- Lighting pains (severe unprovoked pain)
- Ataxia
- Argyll Robinson pupil
- Loss of pain sensation leading to skin and joint damage (Charcot joints)