Some Common STD Symptoms

Sexually transmitted disease (STD) is a serious threat to public health.  While there are many different kinds of STDs exhibiting diverse symptoms, many of these types of infection do not exhibit any sign a few weeks or even months from the onset of infection.

Most STD symptoms are also fairly common in other types illnesses and therefore often do not trigger serious concern in patients.  Itching, painful and sometimes frequent urination, pain in the lower abdomen and pain during sexual intercourse are signs of STD but may also signify other ailments.

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is the most widespread of all reported cases of STD in the US.  It is classified as a bacterial infection and is characterized by such common STD symptoms as painful urination, pain in the lower abdomen, vaginal or penile discharge, pain during sexual intercourse and pain in the testicles for men.  The signs and symptoms usually appear about 1 to 3 weeks from the onset of infection and may even be mild to the point of negligible when they do occur.

Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a type of bacterial STD that affects the genital tract.  It is second to chlamydia in terms of prevalence among all new cases of STDs every year.  The disease exhibits similar STD symptoms as in chlamydia including painful, sometimes frequent urination, thick or bloody genital discharge and painful intercourse.

Genital Herpes

Genital herpes is a highly infectious viral STD caused by the herpes simplex virus.  Initially, patients experience pain and/or itching in the genital area after a few weeks of coming in contact with an infected host.  This may be accompanied by fever, headache, general fatigue, and other flu-like symptoms. After a few days, tiny reddish swellings may erupt within, near and around the genital area.  These will rupture to form bleeding sores that will eventually turn into scabs.

Genital Warts

Human papillomavirus or HPV infection causes genital warts.  These are tiny bumps on the genitalia, usually flesh or gray in color, and may even appear in clumps similar to cauliflower. It may be accompanied by pain and itching in the genitalia and bleeding during intercourse.

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection often does not exhibit any of the usual STD symptoms in its initial stage. Some people experience flu-like symptoms several weeks after catching the infection which eventually dissipate.  As the disease progresses, the infected patient will usually exhibit such chronic symptoms as swollen lymph nodes, loose bowel movement, sudden weight loss, fever and cough.

Syphilis

Syphilis is a bacterial STD that is composed of 4 stages.  The primary stage is characterized by enlarged lymph nodes as well as a tiny, usually painless sore on the part of the body where infection initially set in. This usually happens anytime from 2 to 12 weeks from the onset of infection.  The secondary stage may exhibit reddish lesions about the size of a penny that may occur anywhere on the body, accompanied by fever and fatigue.  This stage occurs 14 to 70 days from appearance of the sores.  The latent stage in which the symptoms disappear may or may not follow the secondary stage.  The tertiary stage may occur years after the initial onset of the disease and is characterized by serious neurological and cardiovascular disorders. GP