STI's - Chlamydia & Gonorrhea

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• 0:03Introduction
• 0:23How it spreads
• 1:07Symptoms
• 1:52Screening and testing
• 2:38Treatment
• 3:24Prevention

Full transcript

1. 0:03Introduction

   Hi, I'm Dr. Taz Varkey. This week I'd like to talk to you about sexually transmitted infections. Specifically today, I'm going to talk about two of the most common, chlamydia and gonorrhea. These are bacteria that you can get through sexual activity. The most common way to get it is through traditional vaginal penile sex.

2. 0:23How it spreads

   And this isn't the only way, though. I'll talk about that in a minute, but when you have sex, it can be transmitted through bodily fluid exchange, so the semen can carry the bacteria in, so conventional fluids. But you can also get this infection through other sexual activities, such as oral sex and anal sex. With oral sex, the reason you can get it is because gonorrhea especially is found in the throat sometimes and can cause sore throats as one of the symptoms.

3. 0:46

   But even chlamydia, they've done some studies and found that the chlamydia bacteria has been found in the throats of some individuals even if they don't have any symptoms. It can be harbored there, so that's why you can get it through oral sex and anal sex.

4. 1:07Symptoms

   That anal area can also contain this bacteria. So in terms of the symptoms, the most common symptoms are vaginal discharge, bleeding in between your periods, bleeding after sex, maybe pain with urination, and if the infection goes undetected and untreated for a long time, it can move up into the uterus and spread to the ovaries and the tubes and cause pelvic pain and fevers.

5. 1:29

   And as I just mentioned a minute ago, sometimes sore throat can be a symptom of chlamydia and gonorrhea as well. Now, the truth is that most of the time chlamydia and gonorrhea have no symptoms. You can have this infection and be what we call asymptomatic.

6. 1:52Screening and testing

   So that's why when you go to your doctor, they're gonna offer you a sexually transmitted infection screening, or STI screening. Sometimes doctors call it STD screening, but the screening is offered to you during your pap smear checkups or general checkups, and you should always consider it if you've had unprotected sex without a condom, sex with multiple partners, or sex with high-risk individuals, people that you think may be at particularly high risk of having a sexually transmitted infection.

7. 2:14

   Chlamydia and gonorrhea are detected during an office visit, either by a vaginal swab, so the doctor would put a speculum in, or the patient can even put the swab in on our own and collect vaginal or cervical samples, depending on the type of testing they do, or even in the urine.

8. 2:38Treatment

   So you don't have to have a pelvic or speculum exam. You can have STI screening even from a urine sample, so that's nice because you don't always need to go see your doctor. Maybe the nurse could do it, or an assistant can just help you facilitate that. In terms of the treatments, the main treatment is antibiotics.

9. 3:01

   And that's actually really important to understand. It's great that this STI is curable. Not all STIs are curable with antibiotics, but this one is. Chlamydia can be treated with pills, and gonorrhea most often with an antibiotic shot. Once it's treated, it is not going to recur unless you get it again. So it's important to then be more wise with your sexual practices and use condoms, which is the main way to prevent it.

10. 3:24Prevention

    I always explain what I'm talking about, STIs. The number one way to keep from getting sexually transmitted infections is to not have sex. But if you're going to have sex, make sure you both talked about screening for STIs and ideally go get the screening together and show each other your results. And until that point, you should be using condoms 100% and avoiding any other kind of sexual activity.

11. 3:46

    But try to minimize the number of partners you have. This is even more reason to, you know, have sex only with one partner in an intimate relationship if you can help it. Okay, so that's it. I hope this was helpful. As I always say, if you have further questions, come in to me if you're my patient or go to your doctor. Thanks for tuning in, and please don't forget to subscribe. Thanks.