STDs - why February was more blue than red

CEBU, Philippines - February has left plenty of memories for lovers. Sadly, not all memories are good, health-wise, especially. February was not just about lovers expressing their affection towards each other with flowers and chocolates, it was also that time of year when misguided individuals express their “love” by joining queues in motels and other places for carnal pleasure, believing that whatever it is that they intend to do is the ultimate expression of their love.

Unluckily, this sort of giving is not only about surrendering one’s dignity, it also entails the risk of receiving a gift that’s definitely not healthy.

In 2011, the Department of Health in Region 7 recorded a drastic increase in reported HIV/AIDS cases, from 95 in 2009 to 377 in 2010. In addition, an estimated 8,000 tested positive for various sexually transmitted diseases in the same year.

However, the numbers doesn’t seem to raise alarm with more people choosing to get a lifetime disease rather than give up hours, if not minutes, of pleasure.

Here are some of the more common gifts that may have spread around during the season and could start to manifest at this moment. If you see any of these symptoms, better have yourself tested and treated early.

Gonorrhea is caused by bacteria that grow in warm, moist areas like the reproductive tract and the urethra. It can also grow in the mouth, eyes, throat, and anus. The bacteria are transmitted through contact with the sexual organ, mouth, or anus. This is also spread from mother to baby during delivery causing blindness, joint infection, or a life threatening blood infection in the baby. Gonorrhea is a silent disease and most of the time may not present with symptoms, especially among women. Should there be symptoms, this appears one to fourteen days after infection and includes burning sensation during urination; white, yellow, or green discharge; bleeding of the anus; or sore throat. Treatment is with antibiotics, but some strains of the bacteria are becoming resistant to the usual treatment, so, health officials recommend dual therapy, or taking two drugs simultaneously. If left untreated, gonorrhea causes sterility and other life-threatening conditions.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by bacteria Treponema pallidum. It has a variety of symptoms depending on the stage of infection. It is transmitted when a person come in contact with a syphilis sore on the genitals, vagina, anus, in the rectum, the lips, or in the mouth of an infected individual. The first signs of syphilis would be the appearance of sores occurring 10 to 90 days after infection. The sores, called chancre, are firm, round, small, and painless. It usually disappears after three to six weeks. After which, rashes would start appearing. The rashes may not be itchy. This characterizes the second stage of infection. Other signs include fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, patchy hair loss, headaches, weight loss, muscle aches and fatigue. The symptoms could disappear without treatment. The late and latent stage could appear 10 to 20 years after infection and could include damage to internal organs like the brain, heart, the liver, and bones.

Chlamydia is a silent disease. Symptoms do not usually appear but if they do appear, they present as abnormal discharges and burning sensation when urinating. Women may also suffer from abdominal pain, low back pain, nausea, fever, pain during intercourse, and bleeding in between menstrual periods. Infection could spread to the rectum and the throat and would present with pain, discharge, and bleeding. Symptoms, should they occur, would appear one to three weeks after infection. If left untreated, chlamydia could lead to sterility among women. Babies born to infected mothers could present with pneumonia and conjunctivitis.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection transmitted through sexual contact with an infected person, or when blood and other bodily fluids from an infected person enters the body of someone who is not infected. The disease affects the liver and causes jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin), dark urine, grey-colored stools, abdominal pain, and unexplained weight loss, among others. Although most babies get vaccinated against the Hepatitis B virus, there is still a significant number of individuals who get infected every year. Chronic Hepatitis B could lead to liver cancer and other serious liver disease. At present, there is no cure against the virus that is why health professionals recommend vaccination.

HIV/AIDS is also a sexually transmitted viral infection. HIV is the stage wherein one is infected by the virus, while AIDS is the disease caused by HIV. HIV decreases the immunity of a person and as such becomes vulnerable to diseases, most prevalent of which is pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections. Because of low immunity, recovery also becomes slow. The virus is spread through unprotected sex, drug use, specifically that which uses injections, and from mother to child. Treatment for HIV/AIDS is still experimental at this stage and entails a cocktail of medicines. There is really no definite way of knowing that one is infected with the virus simply by relying on symptoms. In order to be certain, one must get tested for HIV infection.

Love is about giving one’s self to another. It is not about giving another a disease that could impair them for life. Love, doesn’t have to be expressed with lust, which is brought about by body consciousness.

A relationship grounded on lust is not only fleeting, it also comes with plenty of risks, primary of which is sorrow brought about by sexually transmitted diseases. However, to have a relationship grounded on true love and self and mutual respect is to develop a mature relationship that could last for a lifetime.

Visit the author’s site at http://tribong-upos.xanga.com.

Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov) and The FREEMAN. (FREEMAN)