There is currently a very striking increase in the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases. Diseases that seemed to have gone out of fashion, such as syphilis, pneumococcus and chlamydia, are on the rise again.
The reasons for this increase are related to the fact that, with more effective treatments for these pathologies, the population has lost some of its fear of them. For example, there used to be more fear of contracting the AIDS virus and the population was more aware of using condoms for fear of contracting it. Now that the disease is more under control and people are not dying of AIDS, it seems that habits have relaxed.
Alcohol or drug use also makes people less aware at the time of sexual encounters of the risks they may be taking by having unprotected sex.
Sexually transmitted diseases can have important health consequences. The main ones are:
- Syphilis and pneumococcus are diseases that have to be treated early, the treatment is easy but it must be done, because if they are not treated in the long term they can produce important risks. In the case of pregnant women they can cause serious malformations for babies.
- Chlamydias is an infection that does not produce many symptoms in women, it can damage the fallopian tubes. In many cases women are not aware that they have suffered from this pathology, since it does not present very significant symptoms (they are similar to the symptoms of a cold), and at the time of undergoing assisted reproduction treatment they may have problems.
- The Human Papilloma Virus (HTV) is a sexually transmitted virus. Apart from the genital warts it causes, there are times when this virus causes alterations in the cells and, not immediately, it can even cause cervical cancer. Gynecology specialists specify the importance of prevention.
Prevention of HPV
There is a new preventive vaccine against HTV: Gardasil 9, which improves the one that was previously on the market (gardasil 4) and is already being officially included in the vaccination schedule for 14-year-old girls. It would be a good idea to also vaccinate 14 year olds (although it is not yet financed by the National Health System) as this is the way to reduce HPV rates in the future.
The diagnosis of HPV is very simple: a smear is taken, sent to the laboratory and typed there.
In cases in which patients are carriers of HPV, what should be done is to maintain surveillance by performing an annual cytology.
To prevent HPV, women 25 years old who are sexually active are advised to undergo a Cotest, which is a liquid cytology and a test to determine HPV.
- If the result is negative, it is recommended to perform the test again at 3 years or earlier if the patient feels any abnormality.
- If the result is positive, the controls should be annual.