Therapy Analysis - Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea & Syphilis
Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis: the battle against bacterial STIs
Bacterial sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) now exist in epidemic proportions, causing a clear and significant health and economic impact worldwide.
Despite the extensive publicity and global recognition given to the HIV/AIDS epidemic having provided an opportunity to indirectly address other STIs, infection rates have continued to rise. The UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) has recently reported an increase in diagnoses by 3% to 790,387 between 2004/2005; a trend that has continued since the 1990s.
STIs are now recognised as a major cause of ill-health, producing not only irritating and unpleasant symptoms, but also potentially leading to more serious conditions such as ectopic pregnancies and infertility in both men and women. However, many feel that funding to promote the control of STIs is highly inadequate. In response, the UK's Department of Health has drawn up a proposal to invest an extra £300 million to tackle the growing problem.
STIs fall into two classes, viral and bacterial, and it is the latter which we will focus on in this article. While viral STIs have risen in prominence at different times - herpes in the 70s, HIV/AIDS in the 80s and more recently HPV - the common bacterial STIs gonorrhoea and syphilis have been known for centuries. They have now been joined by chlamydia, which is now known to be the cause of many STIs of previously unknown origin, which were previously designated 'non-specific' or 'non-gonococcal'.
Contrary to public perception, transmission of bacterial STIs is not simply limited to penetrative sexual contact, but can come about by other forms of intimate physical contact including foreplay and oral sex. Transmission occurs when the pathogen penetrates the mucous membranes of the penis, vulva or the mouth. The asymptomatic nature of many STIs contributes to their burden, making them not only difficult to treat but enabling their transmission from individual to individual to proceed often undetected.
