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Sexually Transmitted Diseases ( Std ) Essay

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Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) or sexually transmitted infections (STI) as they are also known account for 20 million cases annually and may be more of an economic burden than realized (Decker, 2016). These infections often go untreated or reported secondary to individuals being asymptomatic or lacking knowledge of the infections and the need for treatment. The current economic burden for treating these infections is estimated to be 16 million dollars a year with individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 accounting for half of the cases (Decker, 2016). Health care providers must maintain up to date knowledge in regards to treating and assessing for these infections. There are current issues arising in regards to changing guidelines for treatment secondary to antibiotic resistance and the primary method of prevention is being focused on risk assessment and education (Decker, 2016). The most common STD’s include, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Trichomonas, Syphilis, Herpes simplex, Human papilloma virus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
One of the STI’s is a bacterial infection cause by Chlamydia trachomatis which infects the genital area (Skowron, 2012). This bacterial infection manifests with no symptoms early on and vague symptoms presenting as late as three weeks after exposure. Some of the symptoms include, lower abdominal pain, painful urination, vaginal discharge for women and penile discharge for men along with painful sexual intercourse and testicular pain

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