Monday, March 25, 2024
HomeFactsIs Chlamydia And Hiv The Same

Is Chlamydia And Hiv The Same

What Is The Treatment For Stds

What are the most common STIs? | How can you get tested?

STDs caused by bacteria or parasites can be cured with medicine. There is no cure for STDs caused by viruses, but treatment can relieve or eliminate symptoms and help keep the STD under control. Treatment also reduces the risk of passing on the STD to a partner. For example, although there is no cure for HIV, HIV medicines can prevent HIV from advancing to AIDS and reduce the risk of HIV transmission.

Untreated STDs may lead to serious complications. For example, untreated gonorrhea in women can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which may lead to infertility. Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system and advance to AIDS.

Prevalence Of Chlamydia In Relation To Other Symptoms Experienced By The Patients

In relation to the symptoms reported by the patients at the time of sample collection, chlamydia was detected most among patients who reported to have had STIs with 26.0 %, vision problems with 32.6 %, sores on lips with 31.4 %, rash in genitals with 29.6 % and blind spot with 30.8 % . The level of CD4 count as well as the viral load did not seem to affect the prevalence of chlamydia in the study population. Of all the conditions reported by the patients only alergy was significantly statistically associated with high prevalence of chlamydia . This association persisted even after the data was segregated by gender. More male patients with allergy had chlamydia compared to males who did not report any allergy while females who reported any type of allergy were significantly more infected with chlamydia.

Drug Supply Issues And Macrolide Resistance In Syphilis

First-line standard therapy for syphilis is treatment with penicillin or doxycycline. Barriers to using penicillin include the need for injections, drug shortages, and allergies while doxycycline use is not recommended in pregnant women. The appropriate management for syphilis is additionally complicated by the emergence and proliferation of macrolide resistant strains.

Benzathine penicillin G is off patent with a market price of pennies per dose but is expensive to manufacture as a sterile injectable medication. Several pharmaceutical manufacturers have stopped producing BPG due to these economics . From 2014 to 2016, the WHO collected country level data and found 39 of 95 responding countries and territories were experiencing BPG shortage, including in high syphilis morbidity regions . Brazil notably had an increase in congenital syphilis cases from 4.0 per 1000 live births in 2012 to 6.5 per 1000 live births in 2015 after a manufacturer ended production on 2013. In Rio de Janerio, the BPG shortage was associated with a 2.23-fold increase in the risk of congenital syphilis

There is ongoing pressure for international co-operation to ensure adequate supply of penicillin for syphilis treatment in addition to judicious monitoring of the effectiveness of alternate, less studied non-penicillin antimicrobials.

Read Also: Is Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Curable

Health Services For Screening And Treatment Of Stis Remain Weak

People seeking screening and treatment for STIs face numerous problems. These include limited resources, stigmatization, poor quality of services and often out-of-pocket expenses.

In many settings, STI services in low- and middle-income countries are often neglected and underfunded. These problems lead to difficulties in providing screening for asymptomatic infections, insufficient number of trained personnel, limited laboratory capacity and inadequate supplies of appropriate medicines.

What About Hiv Infection

HIV and AIDS: What

The treatment of syphilis in people co-infected with HIV is controversial. Some physicians favour using the same therapy that would be used in HIV-negative peoplea single intramuscular injection of benzathine penicillin. Others opt for more rigorous therapy for HIV-positive people, due to the following factors:

  • There is a high risk of treponemes invading the brain, even in primary syphilis, so a single injection of penicillin may be inadequate.
  • HIV-positive people are at high risk for neurological problems and neurosyphilis may increase this risk.
  • HIV infection weakens the immune system and possibly its ability to control syphilis.
  • Syphilis is a relatively common STI among sexually active MSM.

Such considerations have prompted some physicians to use benzathine penicillin, injected intramuscularly, once a week for three consecutive weeks, as treatment in HIV-positive people for primary or secondary syphilis.

Alternatively, physicians may opt for the antibiotic doxycycline taken orally twice daily for two to four consecutive weeks. Although effective in early-stage syphilis, doxycycline has not been tested for late-stage syphilis. Some syphilis experts recommend desensitization to penicillin in patients with an allergy to penicillin, followed by penicillin treatment.

For neurosyphilis, regardless of a persons HIV infection status, PHAC recommends therapy with penicillin for 10 to 14 days.

Recommended Reading: Having Chlamydia While On Your Period

People With Hiv And Sexually Transmitted Infections

Sexually transmitted infections are very common among people who are sexually active. Anyone who has sex is at risk, including people with HIV. STIs are also commonly referred to as sexually transmitted diseases .

STIs are infections that are spread from person to person through sexual activity, including anal, vaginal, or oral sex. HIV is an STI. Other types of STIs include:

  • Chlamydia
  • Human papillomavirus
  • Syphilis

STIs in the United States have increased in the past 5 years and are a public health crisis. Many STIs do not have symptoms, but when left undetected and untreated they can lead to serious health consequences. If you have HIV, it can be harder to treat STIs, especially if you have a low CD4 count. Thats why STI testing and treatment should be part of your regular HIV care if youre sexually active.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C can also be transmitted through sexual contact and pose health risks to people with HIV. Read more about these viruses.

What Puts You At Risk For Stds And Hiv

You’re at risk if you:

  • Have sex without using a condom, with someone who is infected.
  • Have had an STD.
  • Have more than one sex partner.
  • Are under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
  • Many women have STDs without having symptoms. This means that unless she gets tested, she may have an STD and not know it.
  • Young women are getting HIV or an STD because the tissue lining the vagina is more fragile.

If you are a woman, take charge of your sexual health. Be sure to schedule pelvic exams and pap smears every year. Get tested and learn how to protect yourself from STDs and HIV.

Read Also: Over The Counter Chlamydia Treatment Walgreens

Demographic And Clinical Characteristics And Prevalence Of Syphilis In Hiv Infected Patients Prior To Art

A total of 3829 individuals were included in the study, 1539 of whom were co-infected with syphilis before initiation of ART . The distribution of co-infection with syphilis, HBV and HCV at baseline is shown in Figure 1B. The median age of the study participants was 32 years, the ratio of men to women was 18.5:1, the median BMI was 22.2 kg/m2 and the median CD4+ T cell count was estimated to be 268 cells/L. Same-sex relationships were the main route of transmission and accounted for 65.3% of all cases. Most of the participants had stage II HIV-1 infection, based on WHO criteria. Patients who were co-infected with syphilis were older and more likely to be male than patients infected only with HIV. HIV/syphilis co-infection was also associated with lower CD4+ T cell counts and lower CD4/CD8 ratios . The proportion of cases of HIV/syphilis co-infection decreased from 80% to 30% during the follow-up period of the study , although the homosexual transmission route remained steady at around 5070% . Both the fraction of MSM co-infected with HIV/syphilis and the median age of MSM fell from 2009 to 2019 .

Table 1 Characterization of PLWHA Prior to ART

Other Complications Of Untreated Chlamydia In All People

Can I Have Chlamydia and Gonorrhea at the Same Time?
  • Conjunctivitis, spread by touching the infected area and then touching the hand to the eye
  • Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the rectum , if the chlamydia is from anal sex
  • Varied symptoms, such as joint and eye inflammation, caused by bacterial infection
  • Lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV. This is caused by a type of chlamydia that is usually rare in the United States, but it is becoming more common in men who have sex with men. It causes open sores in the genital area, headache, fever, fatigue, and swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin. It also causes proctitis in people who get chlamydia through anal sex.

Recommended Reading: How To Tell If A Man Has Chlamydia

How Can You Protect Yourself From Hiv And Stds

  • Avoid or put off having sex. If you do have sex, use a male latex or female condom every time.
  • Latex male condoms and female condoms, when used the right way every time, are very effective in preventing HIV and many other STDs. Condoms may prevent the spread of other STDs like HPV or genital herpes, only when the condom covers the infected areas or sores.
  • Talk with your partner about HIV and STDs.
  • Don’t share drug “works”
  • Get STD and HIV counseling and testing.

To find out if you might have an STD, visit your doctor or clinic as soon as you can.

How To Know If You Have An Std

  • Discharge of fluid from the penis or vagina
  • Pain or irritation when urinating or having sex.
  • Sores, blisters, warts, lumps or rashes anywhere in the genital or anal area.
  • Itchiness or irritation in the genital or anal area
  • Frequent diarrhea

If you have any of these, you should see a doctor at once. Do not wait for them to go away, even if they do, this does not mean the disease is gone. Most STDs can go undetected and cause serious illness later. Having no symptoms doesnt mean that you do not have a STD.

Don’t Miss: How To Tell The Difference Between A Uti And Chlamydia

Risks Of Contracting Hiv And Stds

Just as HIV and STDs are spread in the same ways, they can also share some of the same risk factors. A risk factor is anything that makes you more likely to contract a condition or disease.

For HIV and some STDs, risk factors include:

  • having unprotected sex of any kind
  • sharing injection needles
  • sharing tattoo or piercing needles
  • having sexual encounters under the influence of drugs or alcohol

The risks of contracting HIV or an STD are also higher among some populations and groups. This can be due to a variety of factors, like:

  • lack of access to healthcare
  • discrimination faced in accessing healthcare
  • population size

47 percent of primary and secondary syphilis were among men who have sex with men. But STDs are common among all Americans. Its important for anyone of any gender or sexuality who has one or more risk factors to get tested and treated.

Can You Develop Stds

3 Signs that Indicate you are Infected with Chlamydia

Some people think that having an STD like chlamydia can lead to the internal development of another STD like gonorrhea. Thats simply not the case, though. STDs dont evolve or transform into different kinds of infection over time. However, having one STD can increase your odds of contracting more STDs in the future.

Read Also: Can Chlamydia Hurt Your Stomach

Selected Sti In Hiv Infection

Both ulcerative and non-ulcerative STI facilitate HIV transmission by a factor of 2-5 times, more for ulcerative comparing to non-ulcerative ones. On the other hand, STI is not uncommonly found in people with HIV infection. In Hong Kong, a cross sectional study conducted in 2005 revealed that 5.1% of sexually active people attending an HIV clinic had either gonococcus or Chlamydia trachomatis infection from urine PCR screening. These observations highlight the importance of STI screening, diagnosis and treatment for HIV-infected people.

The clinical presentations, natural course and management of STI in people with HIV are usually the same as those non HIV-infected people. Nevertheless, atypical presentations and interactions of significant clinical or public health interest have been extensively reported in the literature.

Anogenital herpes

Increased genital shedding of both HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 in women co-infected with both viruses was reported. Shedding of HSV-2 in co-infected women is twice as high in level as those not infected with HIV. Moreover, women with HIV are more likely to have higher HIV RNA copy number in their blood. There are ongoing studies of using suppressive acyclovir as a therapy to lower HIV load and transmission. Atypical presentations such as large atypical anogenital ulcer recalcitrant to conventional treatment and hyperplastic or nodular growth were reported in the literature.

Anogenital wart

Syphilis and HIV

Dark ground microscopy

Prevention Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Some ways to reduce the chance of having sexual contact with a person infected are:

  • If you are born of uninfected and not having sex. Which makes life fairly uninteresting.
  • Being careful in selecting your partners.
  • If you cannot resist having sex with every person you have a relationship with, you can examine your sex partner by looking them to actually see if they have an infection.
  • Use of a condom helps the risk of passing on the infection
  • After unprotected sex with your sex partner you should go to the doctor and make sure you didnt catch anything.
  • If medical treatment is started, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE YOU GO TO THE DOCTOR FOR RE-EXAMINATIONS UNTIL THE DOCTOR SAYS YOUR INFECTION IS CURED.

Don’t Miss: Can I Donate Blood If I Have Chlamydia

Impact Of Education And Income Status Of Patients On The Prevalence Of Chlamydia

Based on education level and income of the household head, participants who indicated that they had an income of less than Rands 1000 per month appeared to be slightly higher prevalence of chlamydia compared to those who had a higher salary . However, the difference was not statistically significant . Most of the participants who had more than six dependents were more infected compared to those who had between two and three dependents. Participants who went to secondary school were more infected than those who went only to primary school . The results are indicated on Table .

Treating Stds And Hiv

Same Day STD Testing Commercial (Scary STD Testing)

Its important to get tested if you think youve been exposed to any STD or to HIV. Getting proper treatment can reduce your risk of serious complications and the chance of spreading it to others. Although the treatments for STDs and HIV are different, theres some overlap.

Treating an STD can help to slow the spread of HIV in your body. But STD treatments wont prevent or stop HIV. Similarly, the antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV wont prevent or cure STDs.

The treatments youll need for an STD depend on which one you have.

STDs caused by bacteria like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are treated with antibiotics. STDs caused by viruses like human papilloma virus , hepatitis B, and herpes cant be cured, but treatments can reduce your symptoms and your risk of passing them on to others.

HIV is also caused by a virus and cant be cured. But treatments can stop HIV from progressing to AIDS and can greatly reduce the risk of passing the virus on to sexual partners.

In fact, people who take antiretroviral drugs as directed and have an undetectable amount of HIV in their blood effectively have no risk of transmitting the virus to sexual partners.

Viral STDs or HIV cant be cured, but many people living with them still lead full and active lives. When treated, these conditions dont cause symptoms and dont continue to damage your body. The virus will continue to live in your body, but the treatments will keep it from harming you.

Read Also: Amoxicillin For Chlamydia And Gonorrhea

If Someone Already Has Hiv And Subsequently Gets An Std Does That Put Their Sex Partner At An Increased Risk For Getting Hiv

If the person living with HIV gets and maintains an undetectable viral load by taking antiretroviral treatment, then an STD does not increase the risk of transmitting HIV.6 However, HIV-infected persons who are not taking antiretroviral treatment may be more likely to transmit HIV when they have another STD.

HIV-negative sex partners of people with HIV can prevent HIV if:

  • HIV-positive people use antiretroviral therapy as prescribed. ART reduces the amount of virus in blood and body fluids. People with HIV who take ART, as prescribed, to achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load can stay healthy for many years, and have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to sexual partners.
  • Sex partners take PrEP medications, as prescribed, after discussing this option with their healthcare provider and determining whether it is appropriate.
  • Partners choose less risky sex activities.
  • Partners use a new condom for every act of vaginal, anal, and oral sex throughout the entire sex act .

What Is The Difference Between An Std And Sti

The term STD is often used interchangeably with the term sexually transmitted infection . But despite this common misconception, STDs and STIs arent exactly the same. Each term has a specific meaning:

  • STI. An STI is a sexually transmitted infection and doesnt cause any symptoms. Instead, an STI refers to the presence of the virus, bacteria, or other pathogens in your body.
  • STD. An STD is a sexually transmitted disease, which does cause symptoms. It happens when the pathogens in your body have led to the cell damage that produces symptoms.

Put simply, an infection just means the presence of the pathogen is in your body, while a disease means youre having symptoms. A condition is only considered an STD if there are symptoms.

This might seem like a small difference, but the distinction is important. This is especially true for STIs that rarely cause symptoms, like chlamydia or gonorrhea. For many people, these STIs wont ever progress to STDs.

Read Also: What Causes Chlamydia In Males

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular