If you care about your health and the health of your family and future children, it is necessary to take control of the examination for latent sexually transmitted infections.
These are chlamydia, ureaplasmosis, mycoplasmosis, gardnerellosis, as well as human papillomavirus. The insidiousness of these infections is that they may not manifest for a long time after infection, or cause very little anxiety, the cause of which is often considered a cold. Yes, hypothermia can cause inflammation, but it is even more likely to manifest itself if a person already has an infection that is activated due to the cold. Both men and women – carriers of these microbes – have not been treated for years and can infect their partners without knowing it. This is the difference between latent sexual infections and venereal infections, such as syphilis, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis. If a person becomes infected with a sexually transmitted disease, most likely the symptoms will not take long and will force you to see a doctor in the near future. This means that it is unlikely to have time to infect anyone else. The difference in prevalence is shown by the following fact: in my practice, venereal diseases are detected in several patients per year, and latent sexual infections are detected in several patients every day. Accordingly, the risk of contracting latent infections is hundreds of times greater.
Another fact complicates the situation. Identifying these microbes requires expensive equipment. In large cities, with a large flow of patients, there are modern laboratories with imported equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, a large number of doctors and clinics cooperate with them. But they also detect infections not in a hundred percent of cases, especially in men. What then can we say about small inexpensive laboratories serving the area or purchased by a small medical institution! The detection of infections increases during the exacerbation of the disease, when the number of microbes increases and decreases during a lull or after the use of antibiotics for any reason, for example, with a cold. For greater reliability, it is very important to check both partners. That is, if one partner has an infection, and the other does not, then this most likely means that he also has an infection, only the laboratory in this case did not detect it.
Despite the apparent absence of the disease, the latent inflammatory process is doing its job. In women, infections cause and support long-term and persistent female diseases, cystitis. Sexual life is disrupted, and pain and frigidity may occur. Pregnancy may not occur for a long time, and if it does, a miscarriage or premature birth may occur. If the pregnancy was successful, the risk of ruptures in the delivery of tissues in a woman increases, and the child, passing through the birth canal, may become infected with these infections even during childbirth. The papilloma virus creates a real risk of getting cervical cancer.
Men have their own problems: who hasn’t heard of prostatitis! Pain, early ejaculation, decreased potency, infertility. And this is not in old age, but in the most active, childbearing.
Chlamydia can affect not only the organs of the genital sphere but also joints, spine, eyes, and blood vessels.
How can I get infected? The most common is considered to be the sexual pathway. Moreover, improper use of protective equipment, the use of expired or improperly stored antiseptics create the illusion of security with subsequent unpleasant surprises and family conflicts. As already mentioned, in some cases, you can be a carrier of infections from birth and not know about it – this is another source of possible family drama or distrust of the results of the examination. Chlamydia survives in the environment, especially in humid conditions, so they can be infected in those pools where the water is rarely changed and not chlorinated. In addition, a shared bath, towel, and washcloth also pose a danger, including their own, during treatment.
There is a point of view according to which the listed infections are a natural microbial background of a person and therefore cannot be cured or do not need treatment. Perhaps this opinion appeared in those years when the methods of treatment and available laboratory diagnostics were imperfect, mistakes happened. Another possible reason is that the partners were not cured.
Statistical studies confirm that these infections are more often detected in people with inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system and inflammatory diseases are more common in people with detected infections.
When should I be examined? If you are sexually active, change partners, and do not always use protective equipment, then it makes sense to be examined when changing partners, with any anxiety, the appearance of rashes, redness on the genitals, plaque, unusual odors, and secretions. Before getting married, such a step is also advisable. But it is especially important to make sure of your health, and both of them – before conceiving a child, since treatment during pregnancy is limited in its capabilities and is not indifferent to the fetus. Even if you are confident in your partner or have not been sexually active for a long time, and have been tested before, you still need to be examined together with your partner if you plan to treat inflammation of the genital area – remember the words about the past imperfection of laboratories, the possibilities of non-sexual infection and the possibility of preserving hidden infections in the body for decades. In this case, a small waste of time and money on tests will save you from the large costs of treatment, which will be in vain if the partner is not cured and infects you again with an infection that neither you nor he suspected.
In conclusion, an important recommendation: check for hidden infections where modern high-quality equipment is guaranteed to be used.
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