Opportunistic etiological agents causing lung infections: emerging need to transform lung-targeted delivery
5 STIs With No Symptoms Men Should Know About
Recent medical studies reveal that asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections (STIs) present a growing public health concern, particularly among men. While some infections cause noticeable symptoms, health care providers report that many STIs can remain undetected for years, potentially leading to severe complications and unwitting transmission to partners.
The hidden danger of asymptomatic infectionsMedical research indicates that symptom-free STIs pose significant risks to public health. These infections can silently damage reproductive organs, increase cancer risks, and facilitate the transmission of other infections, including HIV. Health care professionals emphasize that the absence of symptoms does not indicate the absence of health risks.
Recent epidemiological data shows that asymptomatic cases account for approximately 70% of certain STI infections in men, highlighting the importance of regular screening regardless of apparent symptoms.
Chlamydia: Leading silent infectionChlamydia remains the most frequently reported bacterial STI nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Medical studies indicate that up to 90% of infected men show no symptoms during early stages.
Health impacts include:
Current medical guidelines recommend annual screening for sexually active men, with more frequent testing for those with multiple partners or other risk factors.
Gonorrhea: Rising concernHealth care providers report an alarming increase in asymptomatic gonorrhea cases. Clinical studies show that up to 40% of infected men experience no immediate symptoms, creating opportunities for silent transmission.
Research indicates several serious complications:
Medical experts emphasize the importance of regular screening, as early detection significantly improves treatment outcomes.
HPV: Widespread threatHuman papillomavirus represents the most common sexually transmitted infection globally. Clinical data reveals that most sexually active individuals contract at least one strain during their lifetime, often without knowledge of infection.
Current research highlights several critical factors:
Health care providers strongly recommend HPV vaccination for all eligible males through age 45, noting that prevention remains more effective than treatment.
Trichomoniasis: Overlooked riskDespite being highly treatable, trichomoniasis often goes undiagnosed in men. Medical studies indicate that over 70% of infected males remain asymptomatic, though they can still transmit the infection effectively.
Clinical observations show:
Health care professionals emphasize that regular screening can easily identify and treat this infection before complications develop.
HIV: Critical early detectionMedical research consistently shows that early HIV infection often presents no symptoms, yet this period sees high transmission rates. Current studies indicate that early detection and treatment significantly improve long-term health outcomes.
Clinical data demonstrates:
Health care providers recommend regular HIV testing as part of routine health screenings, particularly for individuals with risk factors.
Prevention strategiesMedical experts emphasize comprehensive prevention approaches:
Health care professionals stress that the asymptomatic nature of many STIs makes regular screening essential for men's health. Current medical guidelines recommend risk-based testing schedules and emphasize the importance of preventive measures.
Recent public health data indicates that increased screening efforts could significantly reduce transmission rates and improve overall population health outcomes. Medical experts continue to advocate for regular testing as a crucial component of men's health care routines.
This story was created using AI technology.
Home Test For Chlamydia, Gonorrhea Launches Soon
Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has recently approved a self-test kit for chlamydia and gonorrhoea for women and other people with a vagina.
AuthorsAssociate Professor, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Monash University
Senior Research Fellow, The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
Reports indicate these at-home tests will be available in pharmacies from December 13 .
So what do we know about this test?
The basicsThe test is developed by a Sydney-based company called Touch Biotechnology.
We don't yet know how much retailers will charge for it, but people will need to pay for the test out-of-pocket ( Medicare only subsidises pathology tests done in a lab).
The test is for two of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Both are bacterial infections.
It's a vaginal test. While it's possible to contract chlamydia and gonorrhoea in other parts of the body including the throat and rectum, at present there are no self-test kits available in Australia for other sites (or for men and other people without a vagina).
To collect a sample, you insert a swab into the vagina. The next steps are similar to an at-home COVID test, although the sample needs to be mixed with two different solutions, rather than one.
You next place a few drops of the mixed solution into two separate wells on a cassette (one for chlamydia and one for gonorrhoea). Similar to a COVID test, two lines mean you most likely have an infection, and one line means you probably don't. You can read the result after about 15 minutes.
Who should take this test?Most people who contract chlamydia won't have any symptoms. But the infection can sometimes cause burning when you pass urine, vaginal discharge, unusual vaginal bleeding and pelvic pain.
Gonorrhoea usually doesn't cause any symptoms when it's in the vagina, but it can similarly cause vaginal discharge, bleeding and pain.
All this means you don't need to have any symptoms to take a test.
If you don't have symptoms, it's important not to test too early after exposure. Chlamydia can take 7-14 days from exposure and gonorrhoea can take about 7 days to show up in a test, including lab-based tests. If you had sex without a condom and are worried, taking a test at about one week would be best (if you do have symptoms it's reasonable to take one sooner).
Most STIs are easy to treat, but when they're not diagnosed and treated over a long period, they can cause complications. For example, chlamydia can travel up into the uterus and fallopian tubes and cause problems with fertility .
Of course, detecting and treating STIs is also important to reduce their spread. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea infections have been increasing in Australia over the past couple of years.
How accurate is the test?The TGA has strict criteria about how accurate at-home STI tests need to be. They must have a sensitivity of at least 95%, meaning they correctly identify at least 95% of positive cases.
Touch Biotechnology states the at-home chlamydia and gonorrhoea test has more than 99% sensitivity . However the research underpinning this figure has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
In any case, a positive result still needs to be confirmed with a lab-based test. So if you return a positive test, you need to consult a doctor for further testing and advice on treatment.
At-home STI tests are not entirely newWhile this represents an exciting innovation in sexual health, at-home testing for STIs is not a completely new thing in Australia. HIV self-tests have been available for purchase in Australian pharmacies since 2021. These tests involve extracting a small amount of blood from your fingertip.
Looking at how HIV home tests have worked can give us clues as to what we might expect from these newer at-home tests for chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
Although most HIV testing is still done in clinics , the availability of self-tests has been shown to increase how often people test for HIV and encourage people who have never tested before to do so.
At-home HIV testing provides an extra level of anonymity compared to attending a clinic. This may be especially important for some populations including younger people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse or migrant communities, and men who have sex with men who identify as straight.
Research suggests most people who get a positive test result on HIV self-tests successfully become linked to the care and treatment they need .
In Australia, it's also now possible for women and people with a cervix aged 25 and older to collect their own vaginal swab to screen for HPV, which causes cervical cancer . You can take the swab in a clinic or arrange for at-home testing via telehealth .
Some things to considerWhen you see a clinician such as a doctor or nurse for a sexual health check-up, they can discuss a range of issues with you including contraception, STIs, vaccinations and other methods of prevention.
At-home tests should not replace discussing your sexual health and wellbeing with a clinician, such as at a GP clinic, sexual health clinic, youth health clinic or other health service.
And remember the at-home test is limited to chlamydia and gonorrhoea only. If you have symptoms that are worrying you, such as pelvic pain, pain during sex or pain with urination, it's possible you may have another STI, or a different medical issue.
So, if you have symptoms and your at-home test is negative for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, it would be a good idea to get examined to see what else might be going on.
Liz Sturgiss receives funding from the NHMRC, MRFF, RACGP Foundation, Diabetes Australia and VicHealth that is unrelated to this article. She is affiliated with Australian Journal of Primary Health (CSIRO), Australian Prescriber, RACGP, NAPCRG, Guidelines Development Committee for the review and update of the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, Adolescents and Children in Australia.
Benjamin Bavinton receives funding unrelated to this article from the NHMRC, Australian Government, state governments, and Gilead Sciences, and has previously received funding from ViiV Healthcare. He has received honoraria and travel from Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare. He is a member of the Australian PrEP Guidelines Panel convened by ASHM. He is a Board Director of community-based organisation, ACON. He has editorial roles with the Journal of the International AIDS Society, AIDS and Behavior, and Sexual Health.
/Courtesy of The Conversation. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).There Are Millions Of Sexually Transmitted Infections In The US Every Year, But New Data Shows The Epidemic May Be Slowing
Although sexually transmitted infections are still at an epidemic level in the U.S., scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expressing cautious optimism about some decreases emerging in the newest data.Overall, CDC scientists say, there's evidence that the nation's STI epidemic may be slowing down, particularly when it comes to gonorrhea and syphilis, but there's still a long way to go."I am encouraged, and it's been a long time since I felt that way about STIs," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. "However, there were still more than 2.4 million STIs reported in the US in 2023, and the impact of STIs on the health of Americans remains severe."There are more than 30 kinds of bacteria, viruses and parasites that people can pass to their partners while having vaginal, anal or oral sex, the World Health Organization says. Some of these infections can also be transmitted from a pregnant person to their child, sometimes with deadly results.Globally, 1 million curable STIs are passed to a partner or a child every single day, according to WHO. STIs can also cause health problems beyond initial symptoms; some may lead to reproductive problems and even organ damage if left untreated.A CDC report, released Tuesday, tracks three nationally notifiable STIs – chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – and finds that over a million more cases were reported annually in the US in 2023 than 20 years prior.ChlamydiaChlamydia, a bacterial infection, was the most common STI in the new report.The number of chlamydia cases reported in the US in 2023 – more than 1.64 million – was about the same as the year before. There was a slight increase in the rate of cases among men and a slight decrease among women.Adolescents and young adults consistently make up more than half of chlamydia cases.One of the biggest challenges with chlamydia is that there are often no symptoms, or an infection may have minor signs that are shared with other diseases, like a burning sensation when urinating or abnormal discharge. However, without treatment, chlamydia can cause problems that make it difficult to get pregnant later.A person with chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics, and condoms can prevent infections.The CDC recommends that sexually active gay and bisexual men get tested for chlamydia every year. The agency also recommends annual testing for women who are sexually active and younger than 25 or who are are older than 25 and have risk factors like multiple sex partners.GonorrheaThere were 601,319 cases of the bacterial infection gonorrhea reported in 2023, the second straight year of declines.The rate of gonorrhea cases decreased 7.7% from 2022 to 2023 and 9.2% from 2021 to 2022. The decreases were seen across the board, for all demographics.As with chlamydia, gonorrhea may not cause symptoms, but an untreated infection may lead to fertility problems. It can be prevented by using condoms and treated with antibiotics.Doctors recommend annual testing for all sexually active women under the age of 25 or those older with multiple sex partners, and the CDC suggests that sexually active gay and bisexual men get tested every year.SyphilisSyphilis, a bacterial infection that can damage the brain, nerves, heart and eyes if left untreated, has been a growing challenge for health care providers in the United States. The country has seen double-digit increases in case rates over the past few years, but in 2023, rates increased only slightly, at 1%.The total number of syphilis cases reported in 2023 was 209,253, the highest number since 1950. The new report notes that there were significant declines in people in the first two stages of the disease, which are more infectious than later stages.Syphilis spreads when a person comes into contact with a syphilis sore, and not all sores may be covered by a condom, so condoms don't prevent all cases.The CDC recommends that people who are sexually active and who identify as a gay or bisexual man get tested regularly. The agency also suggests testing for people who have HIV, people taking PrEP to prevent HIV, those living in a community with high rates of syphilis or those who have a partner who has tested positive for syphilis.Pregnant people can pass syphilis to their fetus, for whom an infection can be highly dangerous, possibly leading to stillbirth, preterm birth or even newborn death. All pregnant people should also get tested on their first prenatal visit. If they have an infection, antibiotics can prevent the spread of the disease to the fetus.The number of congenital syphilis cases for 2023 was the highest since 1992, with 3,882 cases reported, including 279 related stillbirths and neonatal/infant deaths. However, the rate of congenital cases shows signs of slowing, with only a 3% increase between 2022 and 2023. By comparison, some previous years saw increases of up to 30%, the CDC said.What's behind the trends?The researchers behind the new report say they can't explain exactly why so many people have STIs, although the epidemic in the US follows a global trend.The CDC's Mermin believes that there are several factors driving STI trends, including a concerted effort among leaders in the public health community to diagnose and treat diseases early on, to help control the spread. He also says the increasing number of people who are going on PrEP to prevent HIV may be driving down the numbers because they get regularly tested for STIs.Additionally, Mermin noted an "unprecedented" temporary infusion of funding for disease intervention specialists at public health departments from the Biden administration. There is no clear indication that such funding would continue or increase under the second Trump administration, and funding varies at the local and state levels."It's important that we put our resources where our epidemics are, and STI prevention is a component of public health," Mermin said.The numbers in the report reflect what Dr. Philip Chan is seeing at his own clinic, Open Door Health, the only publicly funded STI clinic in Rhode Island. Although the improvement in rates of disease is encouraging, he said, good numbers from one year don't mean the epidemic is over.Chan, an associate professor of behavioral and social sciences and associate professor of medicine at Brown University, said he believes that increased testing and treatment are disrupting STI transmissions in the community. He also points to other positive trends like a decline in the number of high schoolers who have four or more sex partners and a 10% decrease in the number of high schoolers who say they're having sex at all."That's good news, and we know that regardless of your views on sex, that the later sexual debut is, is generally associated with better health outcomes," said Chan, who was not involved with the new report.For this positive trend among STIs to continue, he said, what would help most is something that would help Americans' health in general."I think the biggest thing that we could do as we talk about STIs is just improve general access to primary care and health in general," Chan said. "Access to care is really probably the most important thing."CNN's Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.
CNN —Although sexually transmitted infections are still at an epidemic level in the U.S., scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expressing cautious optimism about some decreases emerging in the newest data.
Overall, CDC scientists say, there's evidence that the nation's STI epidemic may be slowing down, particularly when it comes to gonorrhea and syphilis, but there's still a long way to go.
"I am encouraged, and it's been a long time since I felt that way about STIs," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. "However, there were still more than 2.4 million STIs reported in the US in 2023, and the impact of STIs on the health of Americans remains severe."
There are more than 30 kinds of bacteria, viruses and parasites that people can pass to their partners while having vaginal, anal or oral sex, the World Health Organization says. Some of these infections can also be transmitted from a pregnant person to their child, sometimes with deadly results.
Globally, 1 million curable STIs are passed to a partner or a child every single day, according to WHO. STIs can also cause health problems beyond initial symptoms; some may lead to reproductive problems and even organ damage if left untreated.
A CDC report, released Tuesday, tracks three nationally notifiable STIs – chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – and finds that over a million more cases were reported annually in the US in 2023 than 20 years prior.
ChlamydiaChlamydia, a bacterial infection, was the most common STI in the new report.
The number of chlamydia cases reported in the US in 2023 – more than 1.64 million – was about the same as the year before. There was a slight increase in the rate of cases among men and a slight decrease among women.
Adolescents and young adults consistently make up more than half of chlamydia cases.
One of the biggest challenges with chlamydia is that there are often no symptoms, or an infection may have minor signs that are shared with other diseases, like a burning sensation when urinating or abnormal discharge. However, without treatment, chlamydia can cause problems that make it difficult to get pregnant later.
A person with chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics, and condoms can prevent infections.
The CDC recommends that sexually active gay and bisexual men get tested for chlamydia every year. The agency also recommends annual testing for women who are sexually active and younger than 25 or who are are older than 25 and have risk factors like multiple sex partners.
GonorrheaThere were 601,319 cases of the bacterial infection gonorrhea reported in 2023, the second straight year of declines.
The rate of gonorrhea cases decreased 7.7% from 2022 to 2023 and 9.2% from 2021 to 2022. The decreases were seen across the board, for all demographics.
As with chlamydia, gonorrhea may not cause symptoms, but an untreated infection may lead to fertility problems. It can be prevented by using condoms and treated with antibiotics.
Doctors recommend annual testing for all sexually active women under the age of 25 or those older with multiple sex partners, and the CDC suggests that sexually active gay and bisexual men get tested every year.
SyphilisSyphilis, a bacterial infection that can damage the brain, nerves, heart and eyes if left untreated, has been a growing challenge for health care providers in the United States. The country has seen double-digit increases in case rates over the past few years, but in 2023, rates increased only slightly, at 1%.
The total number of syphilis cases reported in 2023 was 209,253, the highest number since 1950. The new report notes that there were significant declines in people in the first two stages of the disease, which are more infectious than later stages.
Syphilis spreads when a person comes into contact with a syphilis sore, and not all sores may be covered by a condom, so condoms don't prevent all cases.
The CDC recommends that people who are sexually active and who identify as a gay or bisexual man get tested regularly. The agency also suggests testing for people who have HIV, people taking PrEP to prevent HIV, those living in a community with high rates of syphilis or those who have a partner who has tested positive for syphilis.
Pregnant people can pass syphilis to their fetus, for whom an infection can be highly dangerous, possibly leading to stillbirth, preterm birth or even newborn death. All pregnant people should also get tested on their first prenatal visit. If they have an infection, antibiotics can prevent the spread of the disease to the fetus.
The number of congenital syphilis cases for 2023 was the highest since 1992, with 3,882 cases reported, including 279 related stillbirths and neonatal/infant deaths. However, the rate of congenital cases shows signs of slowing, with only a 3% increase between 2022 and 2023. By comparison, some previous years saw increases of up to 30%, the CDC said.
What's behind the trends?The researchers behind the new report say they can't explain exactly why so many people have STIs, although the epidemic in the US follows a global trend.
The CDC's Mermin believes that there are several factors driving STI trends, including a concerted effort among leaders in the public health community to diagnose and treat diseases early on, to help control the spread. He also says the increasing number of people who are going on PrEP to prevent HIV may be driving down the numbers because they get regularly tested for STIs.
Additionally, Mermin noted an "unprecedented" temporary infusion of funding for disease intervention specialists at public health departments from the Biden administration. There is no clear indication that such funding would continue or increase under the second Trump administration, and funding varies at the local and state levels.
"It's important that we put our resources where our epidemics are, and STI prevention is a component of public health," Mermin said.
The numbers in the report reflect what Dr. Philip Chan is seeing at his own clinic, Open Door Health, the only publicly funded STI clinic in Rhode Island. Although the improvement in rates of disease is encouraging, he said, good numbers from one year don't mean the epidemic is over.
Chan, an associate professor of behavioral and social sciences and associate professor of medicine at Brown University, said he believes that increased testing and treatment are disrupting STI transmissions in the community. He also points to other positive trends like a decline in the number of high schoolers who have four or more sex partners and a 10% decrease in the number of high schoolers who say they're having sex at all.
"That's good news, and we know that regardless of your views on sex, that the later sexual debut is, is generally associated with better health outcomes," said Chan, who was not involved with the new report.
For this positive trend among STIs to continue, he said, what would help most is something that would help Americans' health in general.
"I think the biggest thing that we could do as we talk about STIs is just improve general access to primary care and health in general," Chan said. "Access to care is really probably the most important thing."
CNN's Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.
Comments
Post a Comment