STIs and PID Flashcards
Who gets chlamydia and gonorrhea, mostly?
Adolescents and young adults.
What are the 2 main organisms responsible for PID?
Chlamydia and Gonorrhea
What’s the best way to test for most STDs?
Nucleic acid tests.
What cells of the cervix does N. gonorrhea mainly infect?
Glandular cells
What’s more likely to be symptomatic Gonorrhea in men or women?
Gonorrhea in men. Often asymptomatic in women (no itching, burning, etc.)
Micro review: N. gonorrhea morphology, staining, culture?
Gram-negative diplococci.
Fastidious growth culture: Low O2, Thayer-Martin or chocolate agar.
Contraction rate per exposure for women vs. men?
50% contraction rate for women.
20% contraction rate for men.
Do you usually need to give pelvic exams to adolescents?
Nope. Testing for STIs can be done with nucleic acid tests on urine.
What’s Chlamydia’s lifestyle like, and how is that related to the pathology it causes?
Intracellular. The pathology is more caused by the immune response to infected tissue.
Cells seen in the immune response to Chlamydia?
PMNs
Lymphocytes (mainly T cells)
Plasma cells
2 things Chlamydia causes in men?
Non-gonococcal urethritis.
Epididymitis
4 things Chlamydia causes in women?
Cervicitis
Endometritis
Salpingitis
Infertility
What’s the most frequently reported STI in the US?
Chlamydia
What’s the predominant commensal organism in the vaginal mucosa? What do they do?
Lactobacilli. They make peroxides -> acidic pH of vagina.
What’s cervical mucus got to do with STIs?
When it’s thick, organisms may have trouble ascending up to the uterus / Fallopian tubes.
(thus, progestins may be somewhat protective against PID)